Shah woos Koch Rajbonshis, gets ‘louder welcome’ amid Jai Shri Ram slogans

Coochbehar (West Bengal): It was a day of making a lot of electoral sense. Union Home Minister Amit Shah wooed Koch Rajbongshis- numbering about 30 lakh residing in two poll-bound states Assam and West Bengal.

Though he visited Guwahati first, the thrust of the visit was little township called Cooch Behar in the northern part of Mamata Banerjee-ruled West Bengal.

Shah, the former BJP chief and also party’s chief electoral strategist for West Bengal, flagged off the fourth Poriborton Yatra from the Rashmela Math in Cooch Behar. He was emphatic – “BJP’s Poriborton Yatra is not to change the Chief Minister or MLAs. It is to end infiltration”.

He also sought to draw a clear distinction between Narendra Modi’s Development Model with Mamata Banerjee’s Destruction Model. It is worth mentioning that while Ms Banerjee has been trying to fight BJP’s aggressive campaign by raising pitch about development, the BJP leaders have time and again blasted at Trinamool regime’s corruption and politics of Tolabazi (forceful extortion) and pushing the interest of Mamata’s nephew.

“This is the land of veers (courageous people), give me a louder welcome,” he said and the massive crowd did not fail him. The slogan was much louder this time- “Jai Shri Ram”.

The slogan has already made an impact in the eastern state and more than once made Mamata betray her nervousness. The BJP supporters also know – an impact is being made.

For long, Koch Rajbongshis have faced neglect and deprivation in both the states of Assam and West Bengal.

Earlier in the day, Shah on Feb 11, Thursday, met influential Koch-Rajbongshi leader ‘Maharaj’ Ananta Rai and spent about an hour at his home in western Assam’s Chirang district bordering Bhutan.

Rai is one of the founders of the Greater Cooch Behar Peoples’ Association (GCPA), an apex body of the Koch-Rajbongshi people.

“Good days are ahead for the Koch Rajbongshi people. We are happy that the central minister came to meet us,” Rai told the media.

Locals say Koch-Rajbongshi community is categorised as Scheduled Caste in West Bengal and Other Backward Class (OBC) in Assam. They mostly reside in western Assam and in seven districts of North Bengal, especially in Cooch Behar.

In Assam, six communities, including Koch-Rajbongshi, Tai Ahom, Chutia, Maran, Matak and Adivasi are demanding Schedule Tribe status.

After his Cooch Behar visit in West Bengal, the Home Minister took a clear dig at Mamata Banerjee led dispensation and tweeted: “Winds of change blowing in Bengal. People want to get rid of TMC’s violence, corruption and extortion”.

Koch Rajbongshis are a politically significant community in Bengal and have the potential to influence the outcome in 20 seats — a very crucial number in the fight for 294-member assembly.

The Home Minister also visited the highly esteemed Madan Mohan Bari temple.

Addressing a rally at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas, which is dominated by Matua Hindu Community, Shah said the process of granting citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will begin once Covid19 Vaccination drive ends.

A Scheduled Caste group, the Matuas can influence voters in about 35-40 assembly segments in West Bengal.