Kolkata: Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya said on Saturday that despite the party’s efforts a section of party members is indulging in extortion. The state BJP chief and CM Suvendu Adhikari have both repeatedly cautioned against extortion rackets.“It will be wrong for me to say we have been able to stop extortion completely. There are aberrations. However, we have been able to make the situation free from fear to a large extent. No one needs to pay extortion amounts to buy bricks or cement,” he said.Bhattacharya’s comments came on the heels of the Bengal govt launching a helpline to tackle extortion and ‘cut money’ rackets.“People were used to a system that brought them easy money. They were part of syndicates. Some of our party members had a hidden desire that had remained unfulfilled. Now, those desires have surfaced. They have joined some people (who are engaged in extortion). I will be lying if I deny that,” Bhattacharya said at ‘Udyami Samagam’ at Kharagpur Research Park in Rajarhat.“Whether it’s education, health or industry, a section of people is trying to enter with a political flag in hand. Some have managed to join the governing party within hours. Their habits haven’t changed. CM Suvendu Adhikari is trying hard to stop the practice. We are trying to control it,” he added.The BJP state chief also called on industry and allied bodies to keep the party away from their gatherings. “Political parties need to be dissociated from such events. We have become part of a political society and we need to come out of that. Unless we are able to stop the entry of politics into every sphere of life, no govt can bring about change in this state,” he said.Bhattacharya further said that people across the world are excited about the developments in Bengal. “Entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley are approaching us to invest here. They want to buy land and are not asking for any govt help. A company interested in setting up a data centre has only asked for water connectivity,” he added.The Bengal BJP president also cautioned party workers against complacency. “If anyone thinks that we have 207 seats and starts to brag, the results could be dangerous. Egg therapy can suddenly reverse. Our party men and Sanatanis should remember that eggs can change their targets very fast,” he said.In response to the comments, Trinamool MLA Kunal Ghosh said, “Bhattacharya said the right thing and he must have meant what he said. But we have seen before that BJP workers don’t follow his guidelines. His party workers are behaving irresponsibly.”“When Bhattacharya said no one from Trinamool would be taken into BJP, the theory of ‘bhalo Trinamool’ was floated to induct many functionaries,” Ghosh added.
