Bengal BJP leaders targeted Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday over her alleged silence on the issue of attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh

According to sources in the party, the targeting of the chief minister is a part of the BJP’s plan to reap political dividends from the developments in the neighbouring country.

“Mamata Banerjee’s silence on the attack on Hindus in the neighbouring country is suspicious. She only does vote-bank politics,” Dilip Ghosh, the party’s national vice-president and Midnapore MP, tweeted.

“Why hasn’t she issued a statement on the security of Hindu Bengalis in Bangladesh yet?” Ghosh questioned.

Speaking on similar lines at a news conference in the evening, BJP Bengal chief and Balurghat MP Sukanta Majumdar said: “The incidents are happening very close to Bengal. Yet the chief minister is silent. Trinamul is silent, the government is silent. What is their stand?”

“People are upset with what’s happening in Bangladesh.... The chief minister is silent and the other political parties are also giving rhetorical reactions. The BJP is the only party that has hit the streets demanding security and protection for the Hindus. The stand that we have taken will surely help us,” said a senior state BJP leader.

The Trinamul Congress has swatted away the BJP’s allegations about Mamata’s silence.

Replying to Majumdar’s allegations, state minister and Trinamul spokesperson Subrata Mukherjee said that his party has spoken on the issue. “She (Mamata) is unwell. But I’ve seen Partha Chatterjee (state minister and Trinamul’s secretary general) speak on the violence,” Mukherjee said.

Majumdar on Wednesday also demanded the deployment of central forces during the ensuing civic polls.