Amit Shah might attend mega BJP rally in Kolkata

Kolkata, Nov 18: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to attend a mega BJP rally in Kolkata on November 29 staged by the saffron party against alleged irregularities by the West Bengal government in implementing the centrally-sponsored 100-day job scheme under MGNREGA.

The proposed rally is being viewed as a counter action against the Trinamool Congress’s protest last month in Delhi against the Centre’s reluctance to release funds under different schemes, especially the MGNREGA.

In the November 29 rally, the state BJP leadership wants to display a gathering of those rural people who have been deprived of being employed under the 100-day job scheme because of the alleged irregularities in the distribution of job cards.

Speaking on the possibility of Shah attending the rally, state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said on Saturday that the party leadership in West Bengal wants the Union Home Minister's presence at the event to make it historical.

“So we are keen about his presence at the rally... If everything goes as per schedule and unless the Union Home Minister is stuck with a last moment emergency, he will be present at the rally,” Majumdar said.

Meanwhile, a BJP committee leader said that the Union Minister of State for Rural Development Giriraj Singh and the State Minister Niranjan Jyoti will attend the rally and also address the gathering.

According to the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, thousands of people were deprived of 100-day jobs under the MGNREGA scheme because of massive irregularities by the state administration in implementing the projects, with crores of fake job-cards being circulated to people who are not eligible for jobs under the initiative.