Kolkata: The Bengal BJP unit is now trying to woo Muslim votes in view of panchayat polls scheduled to be held in May. The move comes after TMC organised a ‘Brahmin and Purohit sammelan’ in Bolpur, Birbhum district, to attract the traditional vote base of the BJP in the state.
Ali Hossain, the BJP’s West Bengal minority cell president said that “We want minority workers of the BJP to assert themselves ahead of the panchayat poll. Minorities have supported the BJP long before Mamata Banerjee formed the TMC”.
Further he also said that “Every Indian believes in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka vikas’. The TMC is not interested in development of minorities of West Bengal. Minorities have less than 2 percent reservation in West Bengal as against 10 percent in Gujarat.”
However, Sadhan Pandey, West Bengal Minister of Consumer affairs said that “Muslims will never ever side with the BJP because they know that the PM himself is an RSS worker and it wants to divide the country on religious and caste lines. Mamata Banerjee works for the development of all sections of society, not a particular religion. That’s the fundamental difference between the TMC and BJP.”
The Calcutta High Court has granted permission for the youth wing of the saffron party to hold rally which is to begin from January 12 from the Southern tip of the state to its Northern end. The Police had not granted permission for the seven day rally in view of Gangasagar Mela.
Dilip Ghosh, BJP’s State president, said that “This is not the first time they have done such thing. Every time we have to move court to get permission for a rally. The state government should take lesson from these verdicts and stop creating hurdles.”