Kolkata/Darjeeling: Union home minister Amit Shah made a string of promises targeted at north Bengal on Wednesday, including the withdrawal of “false” cases against Gorkha netas and inclusion of Rajbanshi language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.He further said Centre was already working on a solution to the Gorkhaland issue for which it has appointed an interlocutor.Addressing a rally in Jalpaiguri, Shah said a BJP govt would withdraw every false case lodged against political workers, regardless of party affiliation, and end what he called “police raaj” in Bengal.He specifically mentioned Gorkha netas facing hundreds of cases and promised their withdrawal.Shah also warned Trinamool workers against poll-day violence and referred to the attack on BJP Coochbehar South candidate Rathindranath Bose’s convoy.“I am warning Trinamool’s goons to stay indoors on April 23. Else they will be behind bars after May 5,” he said, adding that BJP would “settle scores” with musclemen and end “mafia raaj.”On Gorkhaland, Shah — addressing a virtual rally at Lebong Ground — said the Centre had already appointed an interlocutor and held three meetings in Delhi to advance a resolution, but CM Mamata Banerjee had refused to attend.“The people of Darjeeling are true patriots. They deserve their rights and justice, which have been denied to them,” he said.Centre-appointed interlocutor Pankaj Kumar Singh had visited Darjeeling in Jan to advance tripartite talks involving hill, Terai and Dooars representatives alongside the central and state govts.At a rally in Falakata, Shah accused the state govt of “stepmotherly” treatment of north Bengal and promised to raise tea garden workers’ wages by Rs 500, provide land pattas to garden workers and form a Narayani Battalion in the state police.He also pledged Rs 2,000 monthly to widows, senior citizens and persons with disabilities, and flagged the plight of the Toto community in Alipurduar, citing health vulnerabilities, geographical isolation and land alienation.Raising women’s safety, Shah cited the RG Kar, Sandeshkhali and Durgapur Medical College incidents. “If the BJP forms the govt, women would be able to roam freely even at midnight,” he said. Shah attended three rallies in Jalpaiguri, Falakata and Tufanganj on Wednesday.
