Bengal’s new BJP president Samik Bhattacharya has assured the Muslims in the state the party was not against the community in the state.
“The BJP’s fight is not against minorities or Muslims. Those who have stones in their hands, we want them to carry books. We want the swords to be replaced with pens,” Bhattacharya said in his maiden speech as the president at Science City. “We want Durga Puja bisarjan and Muharram processions to pass through the same road at the same time peacefully. We have to protect the multiculturalism of Bengal.”
Bhattacharya asked the Muslims of Bengal, who constitute about 27 per cent of the state’s population, to introspect.
“Should Muslim children learn about Bengal by reading Syed Mujtaba Ali, S Wajed Ali, Kaji Nazrul Islam or some terrorist's speech? You have to decide for the future of your children. Are Muslims only anti-socials? Who created this situation?” asked Bhattacharya. “If you think BJP is untouchable, do not vote for us. But, do ask yourself in the last three years how many Muslims have lost their lives (in political violence).”
An RSS volunteer since 1971, when he was not even in his teens, Bhattacharya has the backing of the Sangh as well as the BJP’s central leadership. His first speech gave an indication that the saffron party has understood that it cannot ignore the cultural ethos of Bengal, despite the bloody history of the partition.
Drawing references from the French Revolution to the fall of the Marxists in Bengal, Bhattacharya told the assembled BJP karyakartas, the fall of Trinamool was inevitable.
“If Bastille could fall, if the mighty CPM could be thrown away by the people, seeing CPM’s 2011 Brigade Parade ground rally could anyone believe they would lose? People of Bengal know BJP can defeat Trinamool. People have already decided,” he said.
In successive elections, the Trinamool has branded the BJP as an outsider and a party that poses a threat to the Muslims. Bhattacharya, known for his to-the-point speeches and quiet demeanour, tried to address both the charges on Thursday.
Many in the BJP believe picking Bhattacharya for the top spot in the state before the 2026 Assembly elections was the right choice.
Despite being a city-bred Karyakarta, Bhattacharya’s only electoral victory came in the 2014 Basirhat Dakshin bypoll. Those close to the new BJP president say he is confident in the TV studios in Kolkata as much as the open fields in the vast districts of Bengal.
Bhattacharya’s immediate task at hand is to rejuvenate the BJP cadres and bridge the gap between the old and new guards of the party. Bhattacharya shares a cordial relationship with the party’s face and the leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Suvendu Adhikari.
In Thursday afternoon’s speech he did address that.
“The party will not grow without new people. We need people from all sections of life. But the new recruits should remember we have reached here because of the old leaders, they held onto the saffron flag despite knowing their deposits will be forfeited,” he said.
Bhattacharya attacked the Trinamool and the Mamata Banerjee government over farmers’ policies, the sundry charges of corruption levelled at all the levels and lack of industry in the state among other issues.
“During the British rule, Bengal contributed around 30 per cent to the country, which has now come down to eight per cent. Farmers are dying. The young are leaving the state. Talent is being duped. Jobs are being sold like in a market. We want to put a stop to all of that,” he said.