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NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday described the change of guard in West Bengal as “unlike any political change since 1947”, months after his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended the Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) 15-year rule in the state.“The change in Bengal is unlike any political change witnessed in any state across the country since Independence,” Shah said in Kolkata while virtually laying the foundation stone for a curd production plant under the Amul Bengal Dairy Project.“West Bengal was once a beacon for the entire country in every field. In education, West Bengal remained decades ahead of the rest of the nation. Whether it was the freedom struggle or the country’s cultural and spiritual renaissance, Bengal gave India some of its greatest leaders and freedom fighters,” he added.Shah described the Left Front, which ruled West Bengal for over 30 years (1977-2011), as a “foreign ideology” and the TMC, which was in power from 2011 until it was voted out in April this year, as “corrupt and ideologically bankrupt.”“First Bengal was ruled by the foreign ideology of the Left for three decades, then by the corrupt and ideologically bankrupt TMC for 15 years,” the minister added in a sharp attack on the previous governments in the state.The Amul Bengal Dairy Project, he noted, would mark a milestone for the state’s dairy sector and boost the income of milk producers.The Rs 700 crore project will process 30 lakh litres of milk daily and produce 10 lakh kg of curd and other cultured dairy products every day. It is expected to benefit more than 1.25 lakh dairy farmers in West Bengal, including over 30,000 women, while strengthening the cooperative dairy network in eastern India.During his three-day visit to West Bengal, Shah held discussions with the Centre and the state government officials on governance issues, including measures to curb infiltration, strengthen law and order and improve women’s safety.The event marked the conclusion of Shah’s three-day visit to West Bengal, during which he attended official programmes and held meetings on key issues.
