It’s a matter of concern if Bengalis feel unsafe in Bengal: JP Nadda in Jabalpur

Jabalpur, Jan 23 (IANS) Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president and Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda, addressing an event in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur on Friday, said that the people from the “Bengali community are feeling unsafe in West Bengal.” 

The BJP leader stated that Bengal has made great contributions to the freedom of India and guided the nation with its culture and knowledge. He alleged that Bengal was divided due to the then Congress leadership.

During his address, Nadda mentioned the names of renowned personalities from West Bengal, including Subhash Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, and many others, and their contributions to building a strong and united country.

“It is said that what Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow,” the Union Minister said while addressing a large gathering of people from the Bengali community during an event organised by City Bengali Club in Jabalpur, the city also known as Sanskardhani (cultural capital) of Madhya Pradesh.

Nadda mentioned that Madhya Pradesh and especially Jabalpur have not only shown respect for the people of the Bengali community, but they elected the Bengali community for the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha. “This is why Bengalis feel safer here than in West Bengal,” he said, citing the example of his mother-in-law Jayashree Banerjee, who represented Jabalpur Lok Sabha constituency from 1999–2004.

Before becoming the Lok Sabha MP, she represented the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1977 from Jabalpur Central, and in 1990 and 1993 from Pashchim Jabalpur. She also served as a cabinet minister in the Madhya Pradesh government from 1977 to 1980.

Addressing that event, which was also attended by his mother-in-law and former MP Jayashri Banerjee and his wife Mallika Nadda, the former BJP chief said that the party has a strong relationship with the people of West Bengal.

Meanwhile, referring to the statement of a person from the Bengali community (who also addressed the event), Nadda said, “It is a matter of concern that Bengalis, who guided the country at different times, are feeling unsafe in West Bengal. Therefore, we must bring change in West Bengal now, and people will get the opportunity to make it happen in April - May this year.”

Notably, Union Health Minister J P Nadda is on a two-day visit to Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur. He will lay the foundation of a medical college being set under the PPP model in Katni on Saturday.