BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.
Credit: PTI File Photo
The Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly and BJP's Suvendu Adhikari stirred a hornet’s nest within the party when he called for shunning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' mantra.
"Jo Hamare Sath, Hum Unke Sath (We are with those who are with us). Stop Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas (We are with all to ensure the welfare of all)," Adhikari said at an extended session of the party’s state executive committee’s meeting in Kolkata.
"There is no need to have the minority morcha within the party," he went on to say before concluding his speech with the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan.
His comment created a flutter and the state unit of BJP quickly dissociated itself from his remarks.
"We don't believe in dividing people based on religion, caste, or creed. Suvendu Adhikari was one of the delegates at the meeting. The delegates can place their personal opinion or views, but that doesn't reflect the party's position. Whatever he has said is his personal opinion," Sukanta Majumdar, the state BJP chief and a union minister, said.
Clarification
Adhikari, himself, later clarified that he only talked about what he believed should be the strategy of the party in West Bengal and it had nothing to do with the policy of the NDA government at the Centre.
He said while 91 per cent of the Muslim voters of West Bengal had voted for the Trinamool Congress in the 2021 assembly polls, 95 per cent of them had done so in the recently held Lok Sabha elections.
"My comments were not meant for administrative purposes, but for political reasons. I believe that administratively, it should be 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'," said Adhikari, who quit the TMC and joined the BJP in December 2020 and had been projected by the saffron party as the principal challenger to the state’s chief minister and TMC supremo.
The leader of the opposition in the state assembly said his comments were not against any community. "In the Lok Sabha election, we realised a few points. Firstly, despite not having a level playing ground due to the reign of terror unleashed by the TMC, the BJP has emerged as its main challenger. The second realisation is that Muslims in West Bengal don't vote for the BJP," he said.
"The third realisation is that the CPM has helped the TMC in splitting the Hindu votes. So the Hindus in West Bengal should be aware that if they don't unite they won't exist in West Bengal in future," he said.