Kolkata, February 14 Asserting that the BJP is not against Muslims, the party's West Bengal unit president, Samik Bhattacharya, accused the ruling TMC on Saturday of using the community as a vote bank without ensuring their economic development.
Addressing members of the party's Minority Morcha here, the BJP Rajya Sabha MP claimed that due to a lack of economic development, a section of Muslim youths had resorted to violence.
"The BJP will ensure that misguided members of the minority community who have taken to arms and bombs will instead wield pens and pencils and hone their creative skills. We will bring them into the mainstream," he said.
"All the recent incidents of violence in the state involving a section of the community were the result of a small group sheltered from across the border by the ruling party in the state. Once we come to power, the BJP will never allow this to happen," he said.
Bhattacharya asked members of the minority community to compare the economic conditions of Muslims in West Bengal with those in NDA-ruled states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.
"There have been no major violent attacks or killings of Muslims in BJP-ruled states in the last 10 years, unlike in Bengal, where the ruling TMC did not even spare members of minority communities while attacking workers of the opposition party," he alleged.
Referring to incidents in Nadia and Sandeshkhali, he accused the TMC of failing to protect minorities and opposition workers.
"Remember the little girl in the Nadia district who was killed because her family did not support the ruling party. Remember the atrocities against women in Sandeshkhali by TMC goons. Remember how many BJP workers were killed in Bengal since the 2021 Assembly poll results, simply because they did not follow the TMC's party line," he alleged.
"Compare the number of killings and rapes that took place in West Bengal. Have you forgotten Bogtui in Birbhum district? If such incidents had taken place in BJP-ruled states, the reaction would have been different. Yet, the TMC claims to support minorities," he said.
Bhattacharya also alleged that the TMC was aiding and abetting Bangladeshi infiltrators and providing them with fraudulent documents.
He claimed that this had led to the deportation of suspected Bangladeshis in various parts of the country and caused difficulties for genuine Bengali-speaking migrant workers from West Bengal.
