About 5,000 people join BJP in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district

By Tamal Sengupta and Tomal Sengupta
KOLKATA: About 5,000 political activists from different parties on Thursday joined BJP in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district. These activists joined the saffron party in presence of the state BJP president Rahul Sinha who attended a meeting at the Bandhab Nattyasamaj Hall in Jalpaiguri town. Sinha was accompanied by party's Jalpaiguri district president Dwipen Pramanik and state unit secretary Rabindra Narayan Chowdhury.
Interestingly, 13 of the total 21 members of Mekhligunj Panchayat Samity on Thursday joined BJP. As a result, the BJP managed to capture the panchayat samity.

Another 13 members of Phalpukhari gram panchayat joined the saffron party also. The total number of members of this gram panchayat is 20 and BJP has now got control of the panchayat. Seven members of the total 10 of the Bhotpara gram panchayat also joined the BJP and thus helped the party to gram this rural unit. All those who joined BJP in these panchayat units, were associated with Left Front's Forward Bloc. Sinha claimed joining of these Forward Bloc members will help them to win the local assembly seat during 2016 Assembly elections in West Bengal.

Sinha also visited Raipur Tea Garden, where one more plantation worker reportedly died of starvation on Wednesday. In all, 6 tea plantation workers have reportedly died of starvation in this tea garden. Sinha also handed over some relief materials to the tea garden workers during his visit during the day.

For the last three months, the workers of this garden were not getting 12 kilograms of rice from the state government even though the government had promised to give rice to the workers. Sinha alleged that because of non-supply of food to these helpless workers, 6 persons have died. He demanded the state administration should lodge FIR against those officials who were responsible for non-supply of rice to the garden workers.