Participating in the prayers on the occasion of Id-Ul Fitr, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday urged the Muslim community to unite and vote in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The Trinamool Congress chairperson also cautioned them that there were attempts to reintroduce the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and said that the “Constitution was being changed”.
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“All people, wherever they are, should come and vote in the 2024 election and make our government. If there is no democracy, everything will be lost,” Ms. Banerjee said, participating in the prayers at Red Road in Kolkata.
While Ms. Banerjee has been participating in the Id prayers at the venue every year, her message usually used to be of maintaining peace across the State.
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Without making a direct reference to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Chief Minister said she has to fight some “gaddar” parties. “I am ready to fight gaddars [traitors], I am ready to fight the money power [of the political opponents] and [Central] agencies. I have the courage to fight and will not bow my head,” Ms. Banerjee said.
She was accompanied by her nephew and Trinamool general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. Later in the day, Ms. Banerjee visited a number of mosques and greeted the people there.
“They also want to bring the NRC. I do not know where the NRC will be implemented, but it will not be implemented in West Bengal for sure,” Ms. Banerjee said. During the 2021 Assembly polls when the Trinamool Congress defeated the BJP, Ms. Banerjee had repeatedly made references in her campaigns on the Centre’s plans to introduce the NRC.
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“Some people are trying to divide the country and practise the politics of hate... I am ready to give my life, but will not allow any division of the country,” she added.
‘No division of Muslim votes’
The Chief Minister also claimed that some political parties were trying to “divide the minority votes” . “Some people are taking money from the BJP and are saying they will divide the minority votes. I want to tell them they can’t divide the Muslim votes for the BJP. All of us will unite to defeat them,” Ms. Banerjee said.
The Chief Minister’s remarks come in the backdrop of the Trinamool’s defeat in the Sagardighi Assembly bypoll last month, where the Left Front-supported Congress candidate trumped her party’s nominee by a margin of about 24,000 votes.
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The comments also come as Ms. Banerjee has been repeatedly saying that she does not want any riots in the State, in the wake of the recent communal flare-ups during Ram Navami processions in Howrah and Hooghly.
Ms. Banerjee, on the day, also made references to the recent developments in the Bilkis Bano case, stating that all the accused were released in the case, but “we will fight it out”.
The Opposition BJP targeted the political messaging of the Chief Minister during the prayers, with State BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya calling her speech “a classic example of divisive politics”.