RAIDIGHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused the BJP of engineering communal strife in the state to win the assembly elections.
The TMC chief, while addressing an election rally in Raidighi in South 24 Parganas district, also called upon Muslims not to “fall in the trap of a BJPaided party from Hyderabad and its Bengal ally that are out to polarise votes.”
Her jibe was apparently aimed at Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM and Abbas Siddiqui’s ISF. Both Owaisi and Siddiqui had earlier denied the TMC’s insinuations. The ISF is fighting the elections in alliance with the CPI(M) and the Congress.
The TMC supremo also urged Hindus to be on the guard against the BJP’s attempts to “instigate communal clashes” and called upon them to chase away outsiders sent to foment trouble in their respective localities.
Affirming her Hindu identity, in an apparent attempt to counter the minority appeasement charge against her, Banerjee said, “I am a devout Hindu who recites Chandi mantra every day before leaving home. But I believe in our tradition of giving respect to every religion.”
Taking a dig at BJP leaders having lunch at houses of Dalits, she said, “I am a Brahmin woman. But my all-time associate is a Scheduled Caste woman who takes care of all my needs. She also cooks food for me.”
“I need not advertise this as those bringing five-star hotel lunch to eat at the courtyard of a Dalit home are anti- Dalit, antibackward caste and anti-minority in nature,” she said.
—PTI

Press Trust of India