Kolkata: Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday released a political ‘charge sheet’ against the Trinamool govt, outlining the party’s 15 years of “misrule and failures” and putting before electors the choice between “fear” and “trust”. Shah also accused CM Mamata Banerjee of playing the “victim card” to divert attention from the “failures” of her govt.Speaking at its release in the city, Shah said: “Mamata Banerjee has always played the politics of victim card. At times she got her leg broken, at other times she had her head bandaged, sometimes she even fell ill. Then she stands before the Election Commission feigning helplessness and hurls abuses at the institution. I have come to tell her that the people of Bengal have understood her politics of victim card.”Marking a major shift in BJP’s strategy from a purely ideological or charismatic battle, the ‘charge sheet’ — a precursor to BJP’s election manifesto— focuses on “ward by ward” audits of governance in Bengal. “The people of Bengal will have to come out of fear and connect with the trusted one,” Shah said.In the document, which lists the “failures” of the state across 14 sectors, BJP has tried to set the campaign narrative to issues like corruption, health, employment and education. The ‘charge sheet’ highlights “wiping out of 30 lakh jobs”, “over 40 lakh youth being forced to migrate” and “6,688 companies leaving West Bengal”.Shah linked the state election to national security and alleged that Bengal had become the “principal corridor” for illegal infiltration. He framed TMC as a “threat” not just to the state but to the entire country.Challenging the CM on border management and electoral integrity, Shah said: “Infiltrators were allowed by Trinamool in Bengal. So bad has been the governance by Trinamool that people felt it was better during Left Front regime.”Shah said the assembly election held importance beyond Bengal and was linked to national security as 569 km of the India-Bangladesh border was still unfenced due to land acquisition issues. He promised to start border fencing work within 45 days of the BJP assuming office.Shah alleged that while infiltration had been curbed in Assam, Bengal remained the “only remaining route” for illegal entry into India. Claiming that illegal migrants were straining local resources and taking jobs away from residents, Shah said BJP had promised 1 lakh jobs in Assam and ended up providing 1.5 lakh govt jobs in the state.The ‘charge sheet’, which incorporates feedback gathered during BJP’s ‘Paribartan Yatra’, highlights grievances like non-implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission for state govt employees. Shah listed institutionalised scams in Bengal like teacher recruitment, Ponzi scams and corruption in distribution of ration. He stressed the prevalence of “white-collar criminal syndicates” and “cut money” (illegal commissions) across administrative levels.While the ‘charge sheet’ claims that 34,738 crimes against women were reported in 2023 alone, Shah said despite the state having a woman CM, women’s safety had significantly deteriorated and TMC netas had protected those accused of crimes against women. He also accused Trinamool of using violence and “terror of fear” as “political tactics” to target BJP supporters.The document also referred to Bengal as an “industrial graveyard” and pointed to high youth unemployment and a failing healthcare system. BJP claimed both education and healthcare sectors had reached a point of collapse under the current regime. While he did not commit a timeline to address the issues, Shah said, “We cannot even assess how large the gap is.”
