Mamata Banerjee government grants land rights to refugees as Amit Shah begins two-day West Bengal visit

KOLKATA: The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government has granted land rights to refugee families – a move which coincided with Union Home Minister and former BJP president Amit Shah’s arrival in the state for a two-day visit.

According to reports, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee granted land rights to 25,000 refugee families and said a total of 1.25 lakh families would be given land rights.

The land deed will be without any conditions, Banerjee, who had made the announcement on this a year ago, said on Wednesday. The announcement coincides with Amit Shah’s visit to the state to take stock of BJP’s preparations ahead of assembly polls.

Amit Shah will have lunch with tribal and refugee families on Thursday, the party's national media in-charge Anil Baluni said. Sharing details of Shah's visit, he said the party's former president will hold a number of meetings in Bankura and Kolkata with booth workers, influencers and representatives of different communities.

On November 5, the first day of his visit, Shah will visit Bankura to meet party workers and leaders from the different sections of the society. The party workers from two zones, Rarh and Hooghly-Midnapore, covering over 70 assembly seats from the southern region of West Bengal, will attend the meeting.

He will have lunch at a tribal household in Chaturdhi village of Bankura district.
On Friday, Shah will hold a number of meetings in the state capital, with party workers in Kolkata, office bearers from more than 80 assembly constituencies from Nabadwip in south-central Bengal and Kolkata region.

He will also visit the Dakshineswar Kali Temple on Friday and later have lunch at a refugee household in Kolkata's Gauranganagar area. Shah is also slated to have a meeting with representatives of different communities later in the day, Bulani said.

The BJP's West Bengal unit general secretary Locket Chatterjee had earlier said, "There is excitement in workers across Bengal as Amit Shahji is coming to the state. His arrival and his advice will boost the party's preparedness for the 2021 assembly polls in West Bengal."

Sources in the party said Shah will meet party workers and leaders mainly from south and south-western region of the state, as BJP still has a lot of ground to gain in these parts compared to the north, from where it has 12 MPs out of its total tally of 18.

By winning 18 Lok Sabha seats out of the total 42 in West Bengal in 2019 general elections, the BJP has emerged as the main challenger for the ruling TMC in the state.