West Bengal BJP leadership targets Muslims, says Trinamool has done nothing for minorities

Extending an olive branch to the state’s minorities, West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party president Samik Bhattacharya on Saturday said Muslims were the largest number of victims of political violence during the Trinamool Congress regime.

“Muslims are the ones who die and Muslims are the ones who kill. The number of Muslims being killed in West Bengal is not the same as the number of Muslims being killed in Uttar Pradesh. This is not the picture of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat. How many Muslims have been killed in Gujarat or in Uttar Pradesh in the last 15 years and that does not come close to those who died in West Bengal,” the BJP leader said, pointing out a large number of incidents of political violence in the state.

Mr. Bhattacharya said that in several parts of the state, the BJP cannot field its candidates or even hoist their flag, but still there is a factional feud resulting in the killing of the minorities.

Admitting that Muslims in West Bengal do not vote for the BJP, the BJP president said the question should be asked to the community members as to what the Trinamool Congress has done for Muslims in the state. However, Mr Bhattacharya also added that those who think they can come to power only with the support of 28% of the electorate (Muslims constitute 27% of the electorate) are also mistaken.

The West Bengal BJP president made the remarks while addressing a meeting of minority BJP Morcha in the city. The comments, which come ahead of the Assembly elections in the state, mark a significant departure from the saffron party’s earlier stand of not dealing with minorities. The minorities in West Bengal have overwhelmingly supported the Trinamool Congress since the 2011 Assembly polls and despite the Left parties, Congress and other smaller parties trying to win the support of the minorities, not much dent has been made in Trinamool’s Muslim vote bank.

After the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, when the BJP Lok Sabha seats dropped from 18 to 12 in West Bengal, Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari had called for an end to the party’s slogan: Everyone’s Saath, everyone’s development pointing out that the Muslims did not vote for the BJP.

“Stop Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas. There is no need for minority morcha [of the BJP]Mr Adhikari said. On Saturday, Mr Bhattacharya said the BJP does not believe in the distinction between ‘majority’ and ‘minority’. “We are having a minority morcha so that the gap between the majority and the minority is bridged,” the WB BJP president said.

Highlighting that millions of youth from Muslim families of the state are turning to work as migrant workers, Mr Bhattacharya said while poor Muslims are forced to send their children to madrasahs, community leaders are sending their children to elite schools.

Trinamool has no intention of creating jobs, says Suvendu

Mr Adhikari on Saturday (February 14, 2026) launched a scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress government, accusing it of “misleading” the state’s youth and failing to tackle the unemployment crisis.

The Leader of the Opposition said the Budget, which was presented by the state government earlier this month, has made it clear that the Trinamool Congress government is not creating jobs. The BJP leader also claimed that the Banglar Yuva Sathi The scheme announced in the budget to provide a monthly benefit program for unemployed youth is nothing but a bluff.

Mr Adhikari alleged that the ‘Yuva Sashri’ scheme, which was launched in 2013 to provide allowances and jobs to 17 lakh applicants, had effectively ended without any funds being allocated since the 2017-18 financial year.