West Bengal won't accept BJP's politics: TMC's Sagarika Ghose
New Delhi (PTI): Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose on Saturday claimed West Bengal would never accept BJP's politics, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his party would win the next assembly polls in the state.
She also said Bengal has such a leader in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is 24x7 on the ground with the people and not a 'hawaii jahaz' (airplane) leader.
Talking to PTI Videos, Ghose said, "I would like to give a few reality checks to Mr. Narendra Modi. He spoke about the conquest of Bengal, that he wants to conquer Bengal, as if Bengal is a piece of land to be added to Mr. Modi's CV."
"First of all, Bengal will never accept the kind of politics that Mr. Modi and BJP do... You'll give money, you'll divide and rule, you'll use muscle power, violence. This politics Bengal will never accept," she said.
"Secondly, in Bengal, we have such a leader, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is 24x7 on the ground with the people. She's not a 'hawaii jahaz' (airplane) leader who's travelling in the hawaii jahaz and just coming for votes. She's 24x7 with the people," she said.
Ghose claimed the West Bengal government's schemes like Kanyashree show its commitment towards women empowerment.
"Scheme like Kanyashree is something that is a life commitment for the Bengal government... It's not a pre-election bribe to women to win votes," she said.
Ghose also accused the Centre of denying West Bengal its "legitimate dues" under schemes like MGNREGS.
"The manner in which the Bengal government has been denied dues, the central government has denied Bengal its legitimate dues, NREGA dues, Awas Yojana dues... Bengal will never bow down to a BJP and a central government which is flouting the federal structure, flouting constitutional norms, and denying a state its legitimate and just dues," she said.
She said people from West Bengal have been targeted in different parts of the country for speaking Bangla, and accused the Centre of being against West Bengal.
"The manner in which citizens of India who happen to be poor, who happen to be helpless, who are journeying to different paths as wage labourers, as labourers in different states, they are being called ghuspetia, they are being called infiltrators because they are Bangla speakers," Ghose alleged.
"They are citizens of India searching for a living, they're trying to earn a living , and you're using them for this dirty politics of divide and rule... Bengal will never accept this".
"There are BJP people who have called the Bangla language Bangladeshi language. Our language is extremely important to us. Our cultural sensitivities have been repeatedly targeted and abused by the BJP," she said.
"Bengal will not tolerate this. We are the children of Vivekananda, of Netaji Subhash Bose, of Rabindranath Tagore, and we will fight the BJP and we will win," Ghose added.
Narendra Modi on Friday termed the NDA win in Bihar as a vote for pro-people governance and vowed to throw out 'jungle raj' from West Bengal, saying the BJP's victory march will follow the flow of river Ganga from Bihar to Bengal.
Addressing a thanksgiving function at the BJP headquarters here, he said the victory in Bihar has paved the way for the BJP's triumph in Bengal.
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Virudhunagar firecracker unit blast: Toll climbs to 25, Rs 5.5 lakh ex gratia announced
Virudhunagar (Tamil Nadu) (PTI): With most bodies charred beyond recognition, identification remains difficult, police said on Monday, as the toll in the massive explosion at a fireworks unit near Kattanarpatti here rose to 25.
The Virudhunagar district administration has announced Rs 5.5 lakh ex gratia to the kin of deceased.
The accident is one of the deadliest industrial disasters in the region in recent years.
"Bodies were so badly charred that we were able to identify mostly with jewellery that the victims were wearing," a police official told PTI.
He said that the families have not yet claimed the bodies due to the uncertainly in the identities.
The factory owner is absconding, he added.
The accident occurred at the Vanaja firecracker unit, owned by one Muthumanickam, which functions under the Vachakarapatti police station limits.
The unit is reportedly licensed by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), Nagpur.
Post-mortem reports have established that the 25 victims, include 22 women and three men, the police official added.
Eight workers, mostly women, are critically injured with 60 per cent burn injuries. Twelve others, including eight policemen, were injured in a second blast on Sunday evening while rescue operations were underway.
Rescue operations were severely hampered for hours, as unexploded materials continued to detonate.
A second blast at 7.20 pm, triggered as an earthmover was clearing debris, caused chaos and injured several responders, including a revenue official.
Meanwhile, sources said about 1,000 people, including the families of the victims and residents of nearby villages, are threatening a road roko, demanding the arrest of the owner of the factory.
Local eyewitnesses, including Ranganathan from the nearby Seervaikarampatti village, described hearing a massive blast that sent "thick black smoke" into the sky.
"Nothing was recognisable. We saw bodies being loaded four at a time into vehicles," he told PTI Videos.
Many of the deceased were from Seervaikarampatti village, with residents claiming that at least 20 victims belonged to their village.
Among those killed was 46-year-old Indrani, a veteran worker of 25 years.
"My mother was the sole breadwinner. My father is disabled and stays home. I have an MSc degree, but I’m working at a petrol bunk to help out, and we haven't even paid my brother's school fees yet," said Madhubala, Indrani’s daughter, while pleading for government employment assistance.
Virudhunagar Collector N O Sukhaputra confirmed that the unit was operating without permission on a rest day.
Preliminary findings suggest the blast originated in a chemical mixing shed, where nearly 40 workers were busy making crackers, a violation of safety norms that typically limit occupancy to four workers per shed.
"Had these workers followed primary safety norms, the casualties could have been minimal," a senior official stated.
Chief Minister M K Stalin has ordered a high-level probe and directed ministers to oversee relief efforts.
The tragedy follows a similar accident in Vembakottai just days earlier, which claimed four lives, intensifying calls for stricter enforcement of safety regulations in the district’s firecracker hub.
The explosion occurred at approximately 3.15 pm on Sunday. Although the fireworks industry is officially shut on Sundays, over 100 workers were reportedly engaged in production.
Later in the day, Sukhaputra said Rs 5.5 lakh ex gratia each has been finalised for the families of 25 persons killed in the explosion.
Speaking to PTI Videos, he said the ex gratia cheques are ready for immediate distribution to the legal heirs.
"Out of 25 deaths, we have finished conducting post-mortems on 22 bodies. Already we have cheques (that) are ready,” Sukhaputra said.
The announcement followed intense demands from grieving relatives for financial security and government employment.
