New Delhi:
New Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said Monday afternoon that his Bharatiya Janata Party government would not stop welfare programmes – like Lakshmir Bhandar – that were launched by the previous administration run by the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress.
“No stop to Lakshmir Bhandar… all ongoing beneficiary schemes in Bengal won’t stop,” Adhikari told reporters after a cabinet meeting at which six decisions were taken, including a message of thanks to the Election Commission for a “violence-free and successful election” and one of condolences to the family of BJP workers who have died in political violence in the state.
The six decisions included giving the Border Security Force land along the Bangladesh border to complete fences to keep out illegal immigrants – a topic at the core of the BJP’s campaign rhetoric, accusing the Trinamool of a porous international border that allowed foreign nationals from Muslim-majority Bangladesh to enter illegally and stay undetected in exchange for votes.
“West Bengal government will hand over land required for erecting barbed-wire fencing along (Bangladesh) border to the BSF within 45 days. The demographic profile of the state has changed. On the very first day, we granted approval to Union Home Ministry and BSF for transfer of land. Secretary of Land and Revenue and Chief Secretary have been entrusted with this responsibility. The necessary land will be handed over to the BSF within 45 days,” he said.
Adhikari was nominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party last week to be its first ever chief minister of Bengal. This was after the saffron party recorded a thumping win over its arch rival – the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress – in last month’s Assembly election.
The BJP – beaten by the Trinamool in every major poll over the past 15 years – broke through this time, winning 207 of the state’s 294 seats after a shrill campaign that included sharp jabs about the EC’s revision of voter rolls and how they deleted 90.8 lakh names across the state.
An ex-senior Trinamool leader, Adhikari, 55, led that charge, defeating Mamata Banerjee in her Bhabanipur bastion. And, this morning, after chairing his first cabinet meeting, he also made explosive allegations against the former administration.
