Kolkata: Around 27 lakh farmers in West Bengal have already received money under the Prime Minister Kisan Sanman Nidhi scheme in two phases. State BJP leadership is preparing a list of such beneficiaries and will shortly start a statewide counter campaign on this issue involving some of these beneficiaries.
Trinamool Congress has already started a campaign in the state in its favour by issuing certificates, with a picture of chief minister Mamata Banerjee to those who have received money under this scheme. The state’s ruling party is claiming that the farmers of West Bengal would not have received this amount unless the chief minister had been pressing hard for it for a long time. The state BJP leadership has now decided to go for a counter- campaign on these lines.
BJP sources said that the central leadership of BJP has directed the state leaders to distribute leaflets throughout the state in huge numbers as a part of this counter- campaign and also organize camps in different parts of the state. The main theme of the campaign would be that the state government has deprived the farmers of the state for a long time just to blindly and meaninglessly oppose the Union government. It will also campaign that farmers become victims of this deprivation for a long time because of the vote bank politics of the state’s ruling party.
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BJP’s state general secretary, Sayantan Basu told ETV Bharat that just because of the narrow- minded politics pursued by Trinamool Congress; the farmers have been deprived of the benefits of Prime Minister Kisan Sanman Nidhi for a long time. “Now, over 27 lakh farmers in the state have got money directly in their bank accounts. So we are going for a massive counter- campaign throughout the state now. Union home minister Amit Shah has fulfilled the promise that he made before the elections,” Basu said.
BJP sources said that like Trinamool, they will also distribute certificates with pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi among those who have received money in their bank accounts. The party’s Kisan Morcha has been entrusted with the task. The focus is of course the farmers’ vote bank in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Targeting the farming vote bank, BJP is now trying to spread the message of the Prime Minister among the farmers of the state. At the same time micro- level seminars would be organized in the different districts of the state to seek the farmers; opinion and to highlight the benefits of the different central schemes for the farmers.
Party sources further said that there will be a separate help desk on Prime Minister Kisan Sanman Nidhi in the central website, to explain to the farmers on how they can apply for the scheme. A toll- free number in this regard will also be issued by the state leadership for assisting the farmers on this count.
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