Bengal saved from turning to 'Western Bangladesh': Minister Agnimitra Paul

Kolkata, May 9 (IANS) Newly-inducted West Bengal Minister and two-time BJP legislator Agnimitra Paul on Saturday said that the formation of the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state marked the fulfilment of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee's vision and claimed that the state had been "saved" from turning into "Western Bangladesh".

Her remarks came shortly after Suvendu Adhikari took oath as the Chief Minister of the first BJP-led government in West Bengal, along with other members of the state Council of Ministers.

Apart from Adhikari, those sworn in as ministers included former state BJP president Dilip Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul, former Union Minister of State for Home Nisith Pramanik, as well as Ashok Kirtania and Khudiram Tudu.

Speaking to IANS after taking the oath, Paul became emotional while recalling what she described as years of struggle and political violence faced by BJP workers in the state.

"I still can't believe the struggle that we have done, the 23 police cases, the insults, the harassment, not letting us work, beating our workers, raping them, burning them... I still can't believe it; do we really have a government? Sometimes I want to pinch myself and see if this is really happening," she said.

The BJP leader further stated that she believed the political change in the state reflected the ideals of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the ideological predecessor of the BJP.

"Syama Prasad Mookerjee's dreams have been fulfilled. We have been able to save the Bengal that was going to turn into Western Bangladesh. We are able to save it. This is an unreal feeling," Paul said.

Referring to Mookerjee's role in Bengal's political history, the BJP MLA added, "Syama Prasad Mookerjee was the founder of our party. Bengalis got Bengal due to him, or else we would have been in Bangladesh now. And the way Hindus were being burnt in Bangladesh, women were being killed; it would have happened to us also. Today, it didn't happen because of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee's Bengal."

Launching a sharp attack on Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Paul accused the previous government of pursuing appeasement politics.

"Mamata Banerjee was trying to turn Bengal into Bangladesh through her appeasement politics for Jamaat and the Muslim community. It is a blessing that it did not happen, and Bengal did not turn into Bangladesh, or else everything, from our language to culture, would have been Islamised. Today, Syama Prasad Mookerjee's soul would be very happy. Over 321 BJP workers who were brutally beaten, raped and killed today, even their souls must have found peace," she added.

The swearing-in ceremony marked a historic political shift in West Bengal as the BJP formally assumed power in the state for the first time.