Unemployment, non-industrialisation, graft and poor healthcare are the main issues.
New Delhi: The election manifesto committee of the BJP that has been silently working among the electorates in Bengal over the last one month, has gathered that unemployment, non-industrialisation, corruption and crumbling health care system of the state are some of the key issues that the people of the state are concerned about.
Anupam Hazra, national secretary of the BJP and also in-charge of the party’s election manifesto committee for the 2021 West Bengal elections, told The Sunday Guardian, “The election manifesto committee has been working every day to gather information from the common people of Bengal and after speaking to a large number of people from every district and towns in Bengal, what we are gathering is that unemployment and non-industrialisation have become among the main issues for the people of Bengal. There are no jobs and people of Bengal are wanting jobs; for the last 10 years not a single industry has been set up in the state and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee says that she has given jobs to lakhs of people, so who are those lakhs of people who have got jobs? Can she show them or is she just bluffing? Educated youths of Bengal are frustrated and they are looking for a change and a government that can provide them with jobs as per their qualifications.”
Hazra further added that lack of transparency in the governance of West Bengal, along with the crumbling healthcare system of the state, has also emerged as some of the key factors that the common people of Bengal are concerned about.
“Bengalis are tired of the corruption and cut money culture of the Trinamool Congress government. They are seeking a transparent government in the future and this is what we have gathered from almost all the meetings we held with the common people of Bengal. They are also looking for a better health care infrastructure in the state and people have realised the importance of health after the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the world. The CM is giving out health cards (health insurance cards), but where is the health infrastructure in the state? The villages and small towns in Bengal do not even have specialised departments, people have to travel hundreds of kilometres to get even basic treatment in Bengal. They are looking for a government that can bring healthcare to their doorstep and the BJP will work towards that path,” Hazra said. The election manifesto committee which is gathering inputs from across Bengal has been divided into multiple teams spread across all districts and towns of West Bengal. The teams are holding meetings and consultations with several stakeholders from the state through a newly designed programme which has been named as “Aaj ker sondhai aalap o addai” (through today evening’s meeting and talking).
This programme is being held by the party through influential people of each colony, villages, and towns who gather in the evening at a prominent place and discuss the problems they are facing currently in Bengal and what changes they want to see in the next government that is formed in the state. The teams also note down the key pointers from the meetings that are held and are then shared with the election committee management team.
“Such programmes are being done across the state and this is being done silently. We do not want much media attention since we want to know the real problems of the people so that we get to know what we need to offer to the people when we form the next government in Bengal,” Hazra told this correspondent.
Giving further details of the programme, Hazra said, “Every day in the evening, the teams speak to about 100 to 150 people from a particular ‘para’ (mohalla) through a sabha that is organised by our teams on the ground. The teams try to understand their priorities, their needs and the challenges they are facing currently. We are talking to government servants of Bengal, the teachers, the farmers, the daily wage labourers and all other common people. The gathering is carefully chosen based on the location so that people from all walks of life are represented.”
Apart from this, the team is also holding consultations with doctors, advocates, professors and intellectuals from across Bengal for sector wise understanding of the needs and demands of the professionals and those that can be incorporated in the party’s manifesto which will be released before the election to the 294 West Bengal Assembly which is due in the next three months.
However, the theme of the election manifesto for the BJP is still being worked out and according to the party, it would be decided once all the suggestions and feedback being received are compiled.