AMID BANGLA TENSION, TMC WOOS BOTH HINDUS AND MUSLIMS

As multiple videos of atrocities on Hindus by the Muslim majority in Bangladesh go viral on this side of the border, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal has evolved a new strategy to keep on the right side of both the communities, keeping electoral compulsions in mind.

- SUPROTIM MUKHERJEE

The public outrage in large parts of West Bengal, especially in the districts bordering Bangladesh, forced TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee to speak out against the continued harassment of the Hindu minorities in Bangladesh.

Addressing the state Assembly, the TMC chief said everyone is concerned about the atrocities against Hindu minorities in the neighbouring country. Alluding to the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, she said: "A political party is trying to ignite a fire. Both communities must be watchful of this." Banerjee also responded to some provocative remarks from across the border.

A Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader recently slammed India and said that Bangladesh would lay claim to West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. Another viral video showed two Bangladesh Army veterans claiming that soldiers of the neighbouring country could occupy Bengal within days. "You will occupy Bengal, Bihar and Odisha, and we will have lollipops? Don't even think that," Banerjee said.

The Chief Minister's remarks are politically significant against the backdrop of Bengal's political landscape. The BJP and its top state leader Suvendu Adhikari have launched a campaign with an eye on the Bangladesh situation.

Adhikari has been leading protests over the atrocities against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, apparently to consolidate support within the majority community in Bengal.

Banerjee's remarks, which did not name the Leader of the Opposition or the BJP, are an attempt to blunt the main Opposition's campaign while projecting the ruling party as composed and restrained amid flying tempers.

Even as the West Bengal Chief Minister tried to calm restive Hindu sentiment, especially since a large number of Hindus settled in the border districts have family members in Bangladesh, her party leaders have moved fast to ensure that such remarks do not alienate the Muslim vote bank of the party.