Kolkata: Keeping a hawk’s eye in the parliamentary election next year, Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeks more representation of Muslims in the party. In comparison to the last rural polls in 2018, the BJP this time has given at least three times more minority candidates. During the 2018 polls, when the numbers were 210 people, this year the number is touching almost 700 out of which at least 150 minority candidates are given in Murshidabad South.
Apart from Murshidabad, minority candidates are given in Mathurapur, Birbhum. In comparison to the last rural polls, the saffron camp managed to give at least 20 per cent more candidates this time. However, the Trinamool Congress and the CPI (M) is not giving much importance to this. Maybe the BJP leaders understood that the people of Bengal are not against the Muslims. The Hindus want more temples but by not sacrificing the Mosques.
BJP in true sense is secular, says Nandi
According to Bengal BJP minority wing president Charles Nandi “People of Bengal are secular. If we need more Hindu votes then we need to have more representatives from the minorities in the party. Other political parties fake their secularism but BJP in true sense is secular. That is why we can speak about our politics and also give minority candidates in a large number.” The saffron camp had already started campaigning amongst the minority people in keeping with the Lok Sabha election in 2024.
According to party sources, they have started campaigning that in the last 11 years, mostly minority people had given their lives due to the alleged violence of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). In keeping to this, a candidate was chosen from affected minority people from the Bogtui carnage inS Birbhum.
Shamik Bhattacharya: Our way of offering prayers is different, but we are same
The saffron camp had also been vocal over attack on Indian Secular Front (ISF) and its lone MLA, Naushad Siddiqui. BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya said, “Our forefathers are the same. Maybe our way of offering prayers is different. We have always asked the minorities to get added to the mainstream.”
It can be recalled that several times Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari had alleged that certain political parties are ‘misleading’ the minorities against the BJP and also that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s schemes are for each and every Indians irrespective of religion.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “BJP is not even the friend of Hindus. Those who didn’t get tickets from TMC, BJP had given them tickets.”
