Suvendu Adhikari, leader of Opposition in the Bengal Legislative Assembly, on Wednesday demanded that party, the BJP, scrap its minority cell.
“I spoke about the nationalist Muslim in the past. I won’t say that any more. You [other BJP leaders] spoke about Sab ka Saath Vikas. Bandh karo sab ka saath sab ka vikas. No need for minority cell,” Adhikari said during a state executive meeting of the Bengal BJP in Calcutta.
Ahead of his first term in office, Narendra Modi himself had raised the slogan “Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas” projecting an inclusive turn, though the BJP did not field any Muslim candidates and neither did it have a minister from the largest minority community of India.
The Bengal BJP’s minority cell is headed by Charles Nandy, a former journalist.
Despite having defeated Mamata Banerjee from Nandigram in the 2021 Assembly elections, Adhikari’s personal track record as the face of the Bengal BJP – though he does not hold any organisational role at the moment – in the elections has been dismal.
From 18 in the 2019 Lok Sabha, the BJP’s tally from Bengal dropped to 12 in this year’s Lok Sabha election. Worse still, the BJP was thrashed in the Assembly bypolls in Raigunj, Bagdah and Ranaghat South, seats which were with the BJP and from where the saffron party had a handsome lead in the Lok Sabha too.
“The BJP’s organisational and leadership failures can be discussed later. Now it is the time to save Hindus and the Constitution,” Adhikari said.
Starting his 15-minutes speech with the slogan “Hindus unite”, Adhikari at one point raised his finger towards the audience. “You can see the ink mark here. In 2026 [when the Bengal Assembly polls are due] I won’t be allowed to vote because I am a Hindu. There will be hundreds of jihadis squatting outside my house while the police will remain onlookers,” he declared.
Adhikari alleged that “jihadis, terrorists and goons belonging to the Trinamul” had destroyed the BJP’s booth-level organisation after the 2001 Assembly polls and driven out lakhs of youths from the state.
“Despite the tremendous obstacles we received 2.33 crore votes in this Lok Sabha. We would have been happy if we could have won 21 seats. No one could have imagined that we will lose Cooch Behar, Arambagh and Midnapore,” he said.
Adhikari alleged Hindu voters were not allowed to vote during the Lok Sabha polls in Jadavpur and Diamond Harbour seats along with several other constituencies across the state, as well as in the just-held bypoll for the Maniktala Assembly, which the Trinamul won by over 60,000 votes.
“There are four Hindu-majority areas in Bhangor. Voters from two of these areas were not allowed to step out of their homes on polling day. Forget Basanti expressway, that part has become Islamabad,” he said. “In Maniktala, voters from 11 housing complexes were locked inside. Goons from other areas were sent to the places where polling was held and votes looted.”
Adhikari said he had already discussed the organisational lacunae with the Union home minister Amit Shah and the BJP’s Bengal prabhari, Sunil Bansal.
“I have requested time from the President to seek her intervention. We don’t want Article 356 [President’s rule] in the state,” Adhikari said.
“The BJP does not want to come to power using the backdoor. Bengal should be declared as a disturbed area and elections held accordingly. Otherwise, we will not be able to save democracy and the state.”
