West Bengal BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya Monday assured a delegation of business leaders of an ecosystem free of extortion and political interference.
“If anyone carrying a BJP flag demands money at your factory gate, inform us immediately. Their place will be either in jail or a police lock-up,” Bhattacharya said while addressing members of the Bharat Chamber of Commerce at a felicitation programme.
“You people focus on doing business. I assure you there will be no hindrance, no obstruction, and no extortion. We are formulating a new law explicitly designed to protect the business community. That is our singular objective,” Bhattacharya said.
“We cannot eradicate everything overnight, but the BJP will never tolerate the syndicate culture, and the government will take decisive action against wrongdoers,” he said.
During the event, Bharat Chamber of Commerce president Naresh Pachisia highlighted the challenges faced by industrialists under the previous Trinamool Congress (TMC) regime led by Mamata Banerjee.
“Ten years ago, our premises, ‘Bharat Chamber’, were inaugurated in the gracious presence of the then President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee,” Pachisia said.
“Over the decades, Chief Ministers of West Bengal, known as ‘Bhadraloks’, including Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, Shri P C Sen, Shri Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee, Shri Siddhartha Shankar Ray, Shri Jyoti Basu, and Shri Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, have all personally blessed our chamber’s memorable proceedings.”
Pachisia noted that the relationship fractured over the last few years under Banerjee. “The sole exception was the immediate past chief minister, despite my predecessors repeatedly approaching her. Her outlook toward our chamber remained negative, notwithstanding our wholehearted support for the state government during the pandemic and devastating cyclones. While we actively participated in all state programmes, we were left entirely helpless regarding policy support for industrial development and growth.”
In response to industry expectations, Bhattacharya clarified the separation of party and state. “We have formed the government, but this is the government of West Bengal, not the government of the BJP,” Bhattacharya said.
“The administration will not be run from the party office; it is being run from Nabanna under the able leadership of our Honourable Chief Minister, Suvendu Adhikari. The party cannot dictate the terms, conditions, or the daily modus operandi of the administration. How the government runs will be decided strictly by the chief minister and the council of ministers.”
Bhattacharya criticised the industrial stagnation over the past 15 years, attributing it to the previous regime’s restrictive stance on land acquisition.
“Fortunately or unfortunately, the people of West Bengal are not holding a beggar’s bowl. We have mountains, rivers, seas, capital, intelligence, and immense geographical advantages as the gateway to Northeast India, bounded by three international borders and three states,” he said.
“In spite of this, we have failed to attract investment. Why? Because we completely lack a comprehensive land policy.”
“The moment Mamata Banerjee came to power, she declared that the state would not acquire a single square inch of land, whether public or private. Investors were forced to purchase land directly from farmers. Given that small farmers own 82 per cent of West Bengal’s cultivated land, the holdings are entirely fragmented. It is structurally impossible for a major investor to come to the state under those conditions.”
Bhattacharya announced that the new government will unveil a comprehensive land policy within 100 days, alongside a newly formulated data policy. He added that the state administration will collaborate closely with the Centre to design targeted fiscal incentives to draw businesses back to West Bengal.
“The most unfortunate characteristic of our state has been deep political intervention everywhere. We are living in an over-politicised society, and we must change that. The party cannot do this alone; we need every section of civil society to work alongside us,” Bhattacharya said.