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| Toha with minister Firhad Hakim after the meeting |
Calcutta, March 4: Mamata Banerjee today met Muslim leader Peerzada Toha Siddique who had less than two months ago told a rally that the community would not accept the “lie” that the chief minister had done 99 per cent of work required for its uplift.
“I came here today on behalf of the Furfura Sharif dargah. The chief minister invited me to meet her before our three-day religious gathering that begins tomorrow. Lakhs of people attend it every year. I invited the chief minister and other ministers to our festival,” said Siddique, the director of the dargah in Hooghly.
Trinamul leaders termed Toha’s Writers’ visit apolitical, but sources attached importance to the meeting that came days after the ruling party lost two of three bypolls in seats with substantial minority population, that too a few months before the rural polls.
A senior Trinamul minister termed the meeting “natural”, saying “Mamata would like to extend moral support to Toha sahab who will host lakhs of devotees tomorrow.”
A Muslim leader in Trinamul, however, said the chief minister would meet more minority leaders in the run-up to the panchayat polls. “Mamata Banerjee wants to project herself as the sole champion of minority rights in the state.”
Toha today refused comment on his remarks about the community not accepting the “lie” that the chief minister had “done 99 per cent of what had to be done”.
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