Snehal Sengupta
Kolkata, May 9 (UNI) Senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh, who found a place in the first cabinet of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal on Saturday, said the saffron outfit wants to fulfill the expectations of the “people who voted us to power” while keeping in mind Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s vision for the state.
Ghosh, who won from the Kharagpur Sadar assembly constituency by over 30,000 votes, told UNI on the sidelines of the swearing-in ceremony of the new BJP ministry, that the party’s long political struggle in the state had finally resulted in a change of regime.
“We have struggled for a long time. The results have now come, and a regime change has taken place. We will have to work for the fulfilment of the wishes of the people and the dream of Syama Prasad Mookerjee,” Ghosh said.
Ghosh was sworn in as a minister at the iconic Brigade Parade Ground in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP’s National President Nitin Nabin and other senior BJP functionaries.
The ceremony was attended by 20 chief ministers of BJP-ruled states as well.
Speaking about the state of affairs in Bengal under the erstwhile Trinamool Congress regime, he said that “change was long overdue in Bengal.”
“We will be the harbingers of change in the state. This was long overdue. While our neighbouring states have surged ahead in terms of development, Bengal has been allowed to languish and its people exploited by corrupt Trinamool Congress leaders at every level.
"People across every level of society were pained with this but could do little. However, they have given their mandate and have put their faith in us. We will ensure that the cut money culture that had become synonymous in Bengal and the syndicate raj that was prevalent here is demolished and destroyed completely,” Ghosh said.
He also said the new government would honour BJP workers who died during the party’s political movement against what he described as the “misrule” of the Trinamool Congress in the state.
The personal assistant of Suvendu Adhikari was gunned down near his residence in Madhyamgram, North 24 Parganas district on May 6 by unknown assailants.
At the oath-taking ceremony, a white backdrop adorned with flowers had been set up to mark those supporters and workers who had lost their lives. UNI SEN SSP