KOLKATA: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the BJP of exploiting religions for politics. Referring to her recent visit to a mosque, Mamata said the BJP circulated the video footage of her visit to the shrine and accused her of practising the politics of appeasement.
While interacting with Gujrati electorates in by-poll bound Bhowanipore Assembly constituency, she said, "When I visit temples and other religious places, they become mum. Before the Assembly elections, they described Nandigram, where a conspiracy was hatched to defeat me, as mini Pakistan and now they are again adding the colour of religion in Bhowanipore. I would not let India become Taliban or Pakistan."
The non-Bengali voters in Bhowanipore, who form 40% of the total electorates, are under the scanner of both the Trinamool Congress and the BJP. Both the rival political forces are desperate to woo them.
Mamata on Wednesday visited a Gurudwara in Bhowanipore in a bid to secure the support of Sikh voters, and on Thursday, she interacted with Gujrati electorates at the Ladies Park in the constituency.
Mamata urged the people to dethrone the BJP from the Centre in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. "The general election will be very important. For the sake of the country, we must dethrone the BJP from power," she said.
The BJP, which keeps hitting out at Mamata over the issue of appeasement politics, sharpened its attack on her from the day she visited the mosque. The party said her intention was to consolidate Non-Bengali voters in the constituency who can easily decide the fate of the candidate of any party.
"Ahead of the recent Assembly elections, she (Mamata) labelled our party as a political outfit comprising non-Bengali speaking persons. Now she is seeking blessings from the same set of voters. If we can successfully consolidate the non-Bengali voters in our favour, Mamata’s journey in the by-election will not be a cakewalk," said a senior BJP leader.
In another development, Sajal Ghosh, the chief election agent of BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal, lodged a complaint with the returning officer of the constituency accusing Mamata of violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and Covid protocols while visiting the Gurudwara on Wednesday.
The returning officer had issued a notice to Priyanka on Wednesday for the alleged violation of MCC and Covid norms while filing her nomination.