Trinamool Congress MP and national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Thursday tore into the saffron ecosystem's alleged “anti-Bengali” narrative while stressing the harassment and torture faced by Bengal's migrant workers in BJP-ruled states to drum up support in Malda.

On the second day of his north Bengal tour, Abhishek spoke at a public meeting at the Jalanga Ground in Old Malda — which Trinamool termed as an interaction with migrant workers — and launched a scathing attack on the BJP and the Congress.

From Malda, a district with around 48 per cent Muslim population, over five lakh people work in other states. While one MP is from the BJP (Khagen Murmu, Maldaha Uttar), the other is from Congress (Isha Khan Choudhury, Maldaha Dakshin).

“BJP legislators from Malda remained mute spectators and did not reach out to any migrant worker who faced torture in other states only because they speak Bengali. The Congress MP of Maldaha Dakshin, did he do anything for these workers?” he asked the crowd that comprised hundreds of migrant workers.

Since Wednesday, Abhishek has been vocal on the plight of Bengali-speaking migrant workers. In Thursday's event, his party brought many migrant workers on the dais and asked them to narrate their ordeal in other states.

“Let me state that if Trinamool is voted to power for the fourth time in Bengal, we will take appropriate and effective initiatives to create employment for you... you will no longer have to go to other states to earn a living but can stay in your home state,” Abhishek promised the crowd.

He referred to some workers on the dais and underscored that the Mamata Banerjee government and Trinamool took initiatives to reach out to the distressed workers and legal steps to get them back home.

After the meeting, he joined the migrant workers for lunch at the same venue.

At the last Assembly elections, Trinamool had won eight (of 12) in Malda and 20 (of 22) seats in Murshidabad. In Murshidabad, the Muslim population is around 70 percent.

“In 2021, Malda and Murshidabad districts stopped the BJP by ensuring our win in 28 (of 34) Assembly seats (combined). This time, we will have to politically obliterate the BJP from Malda by confirming Trinamool’s win in all 12 seats,” said Abhishek.

Political observers pointed out that Abhishek’s remarks on Thursday against the Congress — which like Trinamool is a constituent of the INDIA bloc — came a few days after Mausam Benazir Noor, a Rajya Sabha member of Trinamool from Malda, defected to the Congress.

“In traditional Congress strongholds like Malda and Murshidabad, Trinamool is not willing to concede any space (as an INDIA bloc constituent). The leadership is targeting the Congress to consolidate the minority vote base,” said a political observer.

Abhishek also spoke about peace and amity, a move which is being seen as an attempt to mollify some voters disenchanted with Trinamool's recent “temple politics”.

“All of us stay together in peace, but the BJP wants to divide us on religious lines. People of Malda and Bengal as a whole will foil such nefarious attempts,” he said.

On Wednesday, Abhishek raised the issue of migrant workers' torture during his visit to South Dinajpur, the home turf of Union minister of state and former state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar.

He also visited the residence of Asit Sarkar, a migrant worker from Balurghat block, where fellow migrant worker Gautam Barman was also present. Last year, Sarkar and Barman had been working in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra, at an imitation jewellery firm, when they were arrested on suspicion of being Bangladeshi nationals. They were freed last month.