Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, on Tuesday made a strong pitch for the consolidation of Hindu votes in Malda district, where minorities constitute more than 52 per cent of the population.
“People of other religions have several countries of their own. Hindus have only India. Hindus must unite to save our religion. We suffered during partition in 1947 and were marginalised in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh,” Adhikari said after inaugurating a 35-foot-high gate featuring a Hanuman idol in front of a temple at Fulbari in Malda town.
Although the event was primarily religious and attended by monks and residents, it was visibly dominated by BJP leaders.
Along with Adhikari, Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury, the BJP MLA of Englishbazar, Amlan Bhaduri, the leader of the Opposition in Englishbazar municipality, and Ajay Ganguly, president of the BJP Malda south (organisational) district, were present at
the event.
Adhikari made a conspicuous and assertive attempt to consolidate Hindu voters in Malda just 24 hours before chief minister Mamata Banerjee will address a public meeting at Gazole in the district.
The BJP leader exhorted members of the majority community not to alienate themselves based on their mother tongue. “We shouldn’t divide ourselves by caste or language. All of us should work together and join hands,” he said.
Adhikari also sought to address concerns of Muslims regarding the implementation of the Waqf Amendment Act.
“Mamata Banerjee accepted the Act but promised it would not be implemented in Bengal. You have only a few days left to register the waqf property with 46 documents — a difficult task. If she had accepted it earlier, you would have had more time. Now it is up to you to decide whether you will attend her meeting in Malda,” said Adhikari.
In the course of his speech, Adhikari demanded a judicial probe into the deaths of booth-level officers (BLOs). The deaths had prompted Trinamool to allege that they could not bear the workload of the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of the
voters’ list.
“Many BLOs died because they could not withstand the pressure from Trinamool to keep the names of ineligible and fake voters on the electoral roll. Some died in accidents, some because of illness. We want a judicial probe so that the truth is revealed,” he said.
Political observers believe that, ahead of the chief minister’s visit, Adhikari’s speech was a clear attempt to polarise the Hindu electorate of the district. In 2021, the BJP had won four of 12 Assembly seats in Malda. Trinamool bagged the rest.
