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On this Special Report, the focus is on the escalating political battle in West Bengal between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). TMC spokesperson Tausifur Rehman challenged the Prime Minister's role, asking, 'Is he a prime minister of BJP or India?' during a heated debate on development and national security. The discussion features insights from BJP national spokesperson Rohan Gupta, political analyst Monajit Mandal, and senior journalist Aarti Jerath. Key issues raised include the implementation of the Special Information Report (SIR) for voter rolls, allegations of fund blockades by the Centre, and the impact of anti-incumbency against the Mamata Banerjee government after 15 years in power. The panel explores whether the BJP can successfully challenge the TMC's 'Bengali Asmita' narrative and the emerging leadership of Abhishek Banerjee ahead of the upcoming elections.
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00:00and in this program i'm joined by monajeet mandal who's a political analyst also rohan gupta the
00:06national spokesperson of the bjp rt jared senior journalist and political commentator and also
00:12there's tausifur rahman who's the spokesperson of tmc i'll begin with you mr rahman because the
00:18accusations are flying towards your party your government mamata banerji's government in bengal
00:24there are many accusations that prime minister listed out from ghuzpaitia to uh lack of development
00:31and blocking development and women's safety as well what is your reaction good evening everyone
00:38good evening to you ma'am as well ma'am i have a few questions and speculations as well uh the question
00:43is is he a prime minister of bjp or india uh he said 100 years nothing happened in bengal then what
00:49about 2014 to 2025 what plan he had for bengal he had 18 mps in bengal what he did under those
00:5620 year tenure in bengal people slammed bjp in 2024 and asked them to back out again who is he or he
01:03just wants to win this election the prime minister who deprived bengal
01:07mr rahman now we seem to be losing your connection we will come back to you try to fix this uh and get
01:17back to you but uh rohan gupta i'll bring you in in this conversation uh the line that was used by
01:24mr rahman is he the prime minister of the bjp or the country their accusation is that prime minister
01:32is making certain comments which are not true and they have again and again tmc has in fact used very
01:39strong words they've said that he's instigator of riots he has said things which are not correct
01:44what is your reaction this is the main issue here you can see the pain of mr modi as a prime minister
01:52that he is not able to give bengal what bengal has given to the country he's not able to give back
01:57because of the blockage of the state government all the central schemes tmc is ensuring that the
02:02benefits don't reach to the bengalis if pm give example that how bengal led us before the independence
02:08also after the independence also the smita for a smita of bengalis is totally tmc has ensured for
02:14their power lust the smita of bengali is not justified that's what pm is trying to do and
02:20that's what he wants that there should be a real palivartan where each and every bengali should have
02:25right in the growth story of india the vixit bharat pm wants bengal to be the engine of vixit bharat 2047
02:32where these benefits are blocked by this but mr gupta the counter that they are giving is which we
02:39just heard is that you have been in the center for a long time as well so what is the uh reason that
02:47there are ghuspaitias as bjp keeps claiming what is the reason that we still have ghuspaitias after 14
02:52years also that's what i'm saying the state government is equally responsible to support
02:58on the issues which are concerning national security you have seen mr amir saad the central
03:03minister clearly telling clearly telling that 450 kilometers the land is not been provided by tmc
03:09and he has given the evidence he has written number of times the letters to the government and
03:13government has not replied can you expect a state government not supporting central government for
03:17their power hunger no no no it should happen and not only that this is about the security whether the
03:24welfare schemes whether the benefits of central schemes everywhere they have ensured just to
03:28protect their power and to alienate bengal they have ensured that all the benefits of the central
03:34government don't reach the common bengali people and that is what mr modi wants whether it is national
03:39security or welfare or bengali aswita we want to give everything let's take it to mr ehman now i think we
03:45have this connection through mr ehman you your uh government is always in confrontation mode as well
03:53so what what is the answer that you want to give to uh the bjp spokesperson but also do tell us you
03:59know that it's always center versus west bengal government ma'am it's always good to confront the
04:06people of india because they deserve they deserve to know everything there's nothing secret when they
04:11talk about 450 kilometers why the bjp spokesperson doesn't go and ask mr rajnath singh back in 2018
04:17when the chief minister of west bengal mahoutab on the path here allocated two lands which is petrapol
04:23and and so what happened after that because they want to deprive bengal in honi election ke liye
04:29as a topic that we will again hit them back in 2021 2024 and 2026 for assembly election so why don't
04:39they work why the bsf jawan standing there but they don't have a fencing over there okay if you
04:44think the central government is working and the state government doesn't want to protect them then
04:48why the central agencies are not there on the border i mean this is the same prime minister ma'am
04:53he hates bengalis he hates the language bengali tell him to make the bengal funds report public
04:59what is there to hide throw it on her face and say we paid you this much beti badao beti bachao
05:05what was the budget 80 percent spend on advertisement if i'm not wrong then show us
05:10the parliament report what about the smart city basically it's a see ma'am basically narendra
05:16modi is a self-centric and an obsessed prime minister who just wants to win election and he's
05:22not a prime minister of india he's a prime minister of bharatya jalta dal party okay monajeet mandal
05:27what is your opinion on this you know the attacks have been sharp from both sides but what got my
05:33attention is how bgp is focusing on singur you know it brings in a totally different optics into
05:40this uh entire fight i think they are they are focusing on singur but they have not talked
05:47anything about the factory in singur interesting people of people of singur is complaining about
05:52that we all know that mamatadi wanted the factory to happen on singur but not trampling up on the rights
05:59of the farmers and in fact that was endorsed by the apex court of the country ultimately the law had
06:05to be changed and this law was changed by none other than mr modi's government new land acquisition
06:10law had to have to bring in had to have to be brought in so the issue are very issues are very
06:15very simple and another bjp will come back with this kind of issues like in a guspetia corruption
06:21and vote bank and development i want to understand from bgp in which of the states in the country
06:28needed to go to the supreme court to get their legitimate rights you know for uh the the rural
06:35benefits for rural employment guarantee schemes and all the schemes amount a gst income tax everything
06:41amounting to two lakhs crores not a single state in the country but the west bengal had to go they are
06:46blocking our funds they are blocking the money in fact if it does blocking the funds for the
06:51university that i teach the promised fund of hundred courts was not being given by the government
06:56of india and uh my friend talked about the other aspects as well and the guspetia who is manning the
07:02water this question will come back to our mind okay the the manning the water is responsibility of
07:07mr amitra mr amitra must resign if there is guspetia or infiltrator okay these are all political
07:12poll narratives that bjp will bring in only during the time of election okay let's take this conversation
07:18to mr gupta because all these accusations are flying towards bjp but i'd like to add here mr gupta
07:26uh this is not just the west bengal's uh grouse you know the center versus state thing we've seen
07:33all these states that are ruled by other parties constantly accuse the center of blocking funds
07:40now what what is the reason that this becomes an issue i mean throw the report on a face there are
07:45three things i think i am i am talking to two tmc technically two tmc spokespersons so i should
07:52have 50 percent that is why we will give you more time if you feel that way if you feel that way we
07:57will give you more time yes see see see the irony they are in the government for last five years
08:02when they had to deliver to the people of bengal now they are questioning central government
08:06this is the political allegation nothing else and you tell me please don't speak in between mr
08:12please please maintain the decorum if you you tell me one government where the central government
08:18agency is going with the search order and this is the state cm comes blocks it takes snatches away
08:24the evidences have you ever seen the insult of our constitution anywhere or our judiciary anywhere
08:29this is not the first time if the cbi team was attacked you see rg car hospital the kind of
08:35approach tmc government showed to the whole country what is this is this is this democracy no
08:40this is not democracy they are ensuring that the kind of autocracy mamata benerji is putting in
08:46bengal people of bengal they are now scared they are fed up with this government the corruption the
08:51nepotism that lack of transparency you see everywhere the appeasement politics have you seen
08:56babri masjid made anywhere what is this she is allowing that she wants to protect the appeasement
09:01politics there and that's why she is supporting she is opposing sir why is she opposing sir you tell
09:06me one cm across the country that there is a reason for them to oppose sir because they want to
09:11protect that vote bank whenever the sir was declared you could see the long queues on the borders of
09:16west bengal why because people were scared they have the political local political protection
09:20protection which is against the country you have to rise above the occasion you have to ensure when
09:25it's a question of national security you have to be together whether it is guzpedia or not
09:29i want to quickly get in a question here does bjp feel confident about dislodging 15 years
09:37old government that came into power with a massive revolution and popularity
09:42absolutely that is a message from the ground that is the voice of the common bengali he feels that he
09:48has been cheated by this government he feels that he's been left out from the good story of the country
09:52he feels that appeasement politics has root over all other rules and regulations he feels that
09:57corruption is killed his right to live he feels that this guzpedias they are taking away the
10:01common man's right in west bengal and that's why because i am there in the war room i can see the i can
10:06see the change in the air this time we are going to dislodge this arrogant government which has
10:11ensured that the common bengali doesn't receive their rights we will ensure that that is what modiji
10:15has told bengal has given a lot to this country and it's a time for bjp to give back to bengal
10:21okay mr rayman you wanted to say something please go ahead so i just want to ask my learned friend
10:27this nasty smell in the air this pungent smell in the air the people doesn't want to accept it
10:34and sir i hope this debate has been seen by all the bengalis you are the same political party who
10:41kills bengalis when they speak bangla in uttar pradesh maharashtra madhya pradesh and rajasthan
10:47why don't you obstruct something why don't you object why don't your leaders tweet that please
10:52do not kill the bengalis staying in bengal while they're speaking bengali modiji comes to bengal
10:58while bjp ecci nexus runs the most brazen water separation drive through the so-called exercise
11:04i mean we are not against the sir but yes we do not like the intention we do not like the process this
11:11is what we have been asking hundred times and we will be on the street each visits of narendra modi
11:17coincides with a grim reality the sir link death toll now at you have opposed sir now at 84
11:24ordinary bengalis have died standing in sin and you are not opposing sir harassment and being forced
11:30to prove the citizenship in their own land ma'am let me bring you some information my grandfather
11:35played football how many how many my grandfather played football for india my sister you tell me
11:41asked for hearing can you believe that you asked very specifically how many of
11:45we are born in india i'm asking a very specific question my grand okay come to think of it sir is
11:52not it is an exercise being done by election commission so actually there is no reason to
11:57debate it over here come come to think of it it is not a bjp exercise and tmc also uh as a party
12:04you should not be questioning bjp for it because it is a easy exercise but why do you protect sir
12:10let us speak but so why do you defend sir if it is a job of election commission the bjp has a
12:17political party let's give bjp an opportunity to speak here mr gupta yes why do you bring in
12:23sir all the time in political debates see it is very very important question sir is important to ensure
12:30that all indians who have the voting right they only can vote and that is why they are opposing
12:35sir anybody using sir is he's anti-national that is what i'm saying he's saying that they are not
12:41opposing sir till now while we are talking their party have raised only five objections to the sir
12:47draft role and every day in the debate their leaders they come then they attack election commission
12:52it is about the constitution attacking sir is attacking our constitution where the sir purpose
12:58is very simple that every indian should have right only to vote and anybody who is not an indian
13:04he should not be able to work that is why that politics comes under pressure okay let's take a
13:09pause let's take a pause because we have new election commission employees okay we will bring in our
13:16other speaker who's joining us right now arty jairat senior journalist is also with us now ma'am
13:21uh you couldn't listen to the arguments put by all the sides over here but uh bjp has been attacking
13:28uh tmc government as you have seen now what is your analysis of the situation because 15 years of rule
13:35and mamata banerji still hasn't lost a fire that we saw recently when the raids were happening
13:41on ipac what is your analysis of west bengal right now um well you know i i think first of all
13:49there is bound to be a certain amount of anti-incumbency against mamata banerji she's fighting
13:58for a fourth term and you know obviously there would be anti-incumbency the point the problem is
14:05that the bjp has not been able to find a slogan to take advantage of this anti-incumbency which will
14:13click with the people of bengal they are recycling mamata banerji's slogans
14:18baribartan was her slogan in 2011 when she defeated the you know the uh the left front uh singur
14:26was hers ground zero when she defeated left front in 2011 so you know they need and jungle raj
14:34does not jungle raj is associated with bihar you know maha jungle raj is something new that they've
14:39brought in for bengal and it doesn't have any resonance at all so they need to find a slogan
14:46that will resonate with the people of bengal instead of recycling mamata banerji's slogan
14:52and i think that is the main problem today when the and when the tmc accuses the bjp of being a party
15:00of outsiders it seems to you know touch a nerve in amongst people in bengal because the bjp doesn't
15:08have a good local face they have been experimenting with all kinds of people dilip ghosh and then
15:14suvindu adhikari and so on so forth but they have not come up they have not thrown up a good enough
15:21leader okay who fight mamata banerji on the streets word for word fist for fist you know and uh you know
15:30and bring that kind of energy so in a way you're saying it's not versus tmc it's versus mamata banerji
15:37yes of course because the attack is entirely on mamata banerji and 15 years you know asli
15:44poribottan this is mamata banerji's slogan why is the bjp using it the bjp should have its own slogan
15:52and you know this is what i find lacking in the bjp's campaign that they don't have any you know
15:59they have been so imaginative in all the other states whether it was bihar or it was maharashtra
16:05or up all states that they've captured you know you know in recent times but somehow in bengal
16:12these they get maybe intimidated by mamata banerji because she is such a street fighter i mean as you
16:20said the way she came out on the street which chief minister comes you know when an ed is
16:26conducting a rape where okay i'll take this to mr gupta mr gupta do you think political copywriting
16:32sort of fails when it comes to bengal because that's what uh our senior journalist ati jairat is
16:38saying see as a journalist i respect her views but we have to understand the difference here the same
16:44question was asked to bjp when delhi elections were there the same questions were asked in many other
16:49states see there is a basic difference when bjp bjp doesn't think in you know regional context or
16:55you know very very specifically okay this is they think in a national perspective and that's why
17:00bengal is very important when pm on the land of bengal gives the commitment to the people of bengali
17:05that i'm here to ensure that the bengali asmita is given back what else you want and when you have
17:11your somebody call mamata banerji talking about bengali asmita what bengal has received do you feel
17:16that employment rate is proper no do you feel women's security is good do you feel the capital
17:22income is increased no it has gone down by 90 percent compared to the next thing very untangible
17:27emotion okay okay just 30 seconds what i'm saying is yes emotions definitely the bengali asmita card
17:34cannot work 15 years people will see that they have trusted you whether you have delivered on that
17:39trust no the answer is no at the end of the day the number should speak and when you talk about
17:43numbers today all the numbers are against this mamata banerji and that's the basic difference
17:48between bjp and other parties that we ensure now i've run out of time i just have a minute more and
17:54i will give that to monajeet mandal because he's been waiting patiently for a while now monajeet what
17:59is your last say here no it's this i i think it's not only about mamata this time we have another very
18:07very formidable figure in the form of what we said but look at look at the look at the rallies that
18:12he's conducting all over the state i said more people are being attracted than mr modi i mean look
18:17at look at the shows that he also had today only i mean so it's it's a very very formidable power i mean
18:22in 2021 thermal congress was different because at that point of time all the big leaders were switching
18:27sides including uh shubhendi odhikari but this tmc make no mistake is much more formidable because of
18:34because of the entry of okay okay i cannot resist this i cannot resist this yes mr gupta only 10
18:40seconds sir mr monajeet bundle i don't know why you are not there in tmc but you have seen the vote
18:46chori yatras and the bd there you have seen that so don't be deceptive you don't need to be scared of
18:51tmc you don't need to be scared of now i'm out of time that was too tempting to resist so i gave you that
19:00time now i'm completely out of time thank you very much all of you for joining it this debate is of
19:06course interesting because this fight on the ground is super interesting and it's just going to get
19:11more interesting as we go ahead now
19:23you
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