Dilip Ghosh
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Kolkata: Senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh believes that under the TMC regime, West Bengal is sitting on a ticking time bomb and security and central agencies need to conduct "surgical strikes" to curb anti-national activities in the bordering state.
In an interview with PTI, Ghosh expressed concern over a deep-rooted nexus of financial scams and terror modules in the state and predicted heightened activities by central agencies after the elections are over.
"West Bengal, a bordering state, has witnessed not only a deteriorating law and order situation but also incidents detrimental to national security. Uncovering of bomb-making factories and terror modules indicate that Bengal has become a haven for infiltrators and anti-national elements," he said.
Asserting that a significant demographic shift in border areas due to TMC's alleged politics of appeasement, Ghosh claimed that national security is at stake under the Trinamool regime, since the ruling party lacks control over the state's affairs.
The former state BJP president said, "There exists an anti-national chain in West Bengal, encompassing not only terror modules but also various corruption cases."
He alleged that under the TMC regime, several areas resemble Sandeshkhali and Bhoopatinagar, where anti-national elements are allowed a free run.
“The state is on the verge of an explosion, and it is imperative that security and central agencies must conduct surgical strikes to safeguard it," Ghosh stressed.
Allegations of sexual abuse against TMC leaders have emerged recently at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district. ED officials faced a mob attack there in January. At Bhoopatinagar in Purba Medinipur district too, an NIA team was allegedly attacked by a mob last week when it went to arrest two suspects in a 2022 blast case.
Ghosh criticised the state police and CID for allegedly covering up these issues through biased investigations. Referring to Sandeshkhali and Bhoopatinagar, Ghosh accused the TMC of "playing with national security" and emphasized the BJP's responsibility to protect the state.
"After the elections are over, you will see how the central agencies unravel the conspiracy against the interests of the nation," he said. Regarding the Citizenship Amendment Act, Ghosh questioned the TMC's opposition to its implementation, saying “The CAA will clearly distinguish citizens from foreigners.”
Ghosh asserted that the CAA will not only consolidate the Hindus in Bengal but also help the BJP sweep elections in the state. According to the CAA, the rules of which were notified on March 13, the government will grant Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants - Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians - from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
On the anti-CAA protests that rocked parts of the state in 2019 after the law was passed by Parliament, Ghosh alleged those were engineered by infiltrators who are a voting bloc of the TMC. “The lungi party had come down to streets, burnt buses and public property to protest against the CAA. These people are capturing areas in Bengal and are eating into jobs of locals and facilities of the government,” he said. Asked about the possibility of a National Register of Citizens in the near future as apprehended by some opposition leaders, Ghosh said, “The NRC in Assam was done as per the Assam Accord and court order.”
Assam witnessed a six-year-long agitation since 1979 demanding identification and deportation of illegal immigrants. The movement culminated in the signing of the Assam Accord. “The government did not do it on their own (in Assam). Now, if anyone moves the court and wants NRC to be implemented and the court accepts the plea, then it might happen,” he said.
Ghosh, an MP of the Medinipur Lok Sabha seat, who has now been shifted to Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency, has exuded confidence about his victory. "I am a loyal soldier of the party. Whatever assignment it gives me, I will accept it," he said. Ghosh, when he was the West Bengal BJP head, led the party to significant electoral gains, overseeing its rise from two Lok Sabha seats in 2014 to 18 in 2019 and from three assembly seats in 2016 to 77 in 2021.
Asked whether turncoats have a bigger say in the state of affairs in the BJP West Bengal unit, he said, "We were in a growing phase in Bengal and our local leaders and workers lacked experience. We had to bring in leaders from other parties to lead the party."
To a question, Ghosh said, "The party is accommodating both the old and new; that is how it is functioning in the entire country." Ghosh, who is known for making controversial remarks had recently stirred a controversy by mocking the family background of Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee in a purported video clip, said he believes in "calling spade a spade."
"I am a straightforward person, others might be wary of commenting on something. But I am not as I believe in politics, you need to speak in the language one understands," he said.