BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari.
Credit: PTI File Photo
The political focus on Bengal’s largest minority – Muslims, is becoming more evident this election season. Representatives from the two leading political opponents in the state – the Trinamool, and the BJP, engaged in a brawl, pointing fingers at each other, over the treatment of Muslims.
Addressing a public meeting, on Thursday, BJP-Bengal leader Suvendu Adhikari told the Muslims that the Trinamool chief considers them to be tejpatta (bay leaf) – a mandatory ingredient for recipes, but cannot be eaten.
The BJP leader further told the people that if they vote BJP to power in the state (in the next Assembly elections) then Annapurana, a scheme with a financial support of Rs 2,000 would be introduced. He referred to the subsidised gas cylinder scheme of Rajasthan, and the Ladli Behna scheme of Madhya Pradesh – both introduced by the BJP governments.
Citing corruption in the state, Adhikari asked the people to opt for a “double-engine” government, by supporting and voting for his party. He asked the people to not get carried away by the CPI(M) – an electoral option, besides Trinamool.
“The Congress has been seen, tested and rejected. The Left’s rule has been seen, tested and rejected…,” he said, asking people to steer away from the Trinamool, and instead vote for the BJP without caring about the candidate, but for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Adhikari expressed further concern for the leaders of the minority community in a post on X.
“Muslim leaders are mere faces, needed to glossify (sic) the secular facade of the TMC (Trinamool) Party and attract Musli votes. When the cameras are off, they are treated with indignity and disrespect,” he stated, while raising an allegation that a few Muslim leaders were asked to vacate a government property to make way for a senior officer.
Kunal Ghosh, Trinamool spokesperson, slammed the BJP leader, in a response-post. Ghosh stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s council doesn’t have a single Muslim member. “For the first time in history, the ruling party has no Muslim MP in either house of the Parliament,” Ghosh said.
Ghosh alleged that while the BJP talks of inclusiveness, the representation (of Muslims) is dismal. “On the one hand you call us Muslim appeasing and on the other you accuse us of not treating our Muslim brethren with dignity…,” the Trinamool leader added.