Leaders of the saffron camp played the polarisation card in a bid to woo Rajbanshi votes ahead of the Assembly bypoll in Dhupguri by tweaking a recent remark of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
In Dhupguri, the bypoll will be held on September 5. Rajbanshis form around 60 per cent of the population in the Assembly seat.
On August 28, Mamata, at the public meeting held on the anniversary of Trinamul Chhatra Parishad in Calcutta, referred to various parts of the human body to symbolise communal harmony, unity and amity in the state.
“Amar ek hath Hindu holey r ek hath Mussalman… Ek chokh Punjab holey, r ek chokh Christian. Amar ek pa jodi Rajbanshi… ami paye nomoskar kore boli ar ek pa hochche Matua (If one of my hands is Hindu, then the other hand is Muslim.. if one eye is Punjabi, the other eye is Christian. If one of my legs is Rajbanshi..... the other leg, I humbly pay my respect to them, is the Matua),” she had said.
Based on those, the BJP leaders claimed that the chief minister made “derogatory” remarks against the Rajbanshi community that dwells across north Bengal.
“How can the chief minister make such a derogatory comment? If she wanted to prove that she loves all communities, then why did she compare Rajbanshis with legs? She could have said that they are close to her heart, her eyes or they are her strong hands. It seems that Rajbanshis are just a vote bank for her. We condemn such remarks. She should refrain from such comments in the future,” Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, posted in X on Wednesday.
Amit Malviya, the party’s co-incharge of Bengal, also posted on the same microbloggng site: "Rajbanshis have a rich cultural legacy, but to denigrate them like this just because they are Namasudra, betrays Mamata Banerjee’s anti-Dalit mindset. She must apologize unconditionally."
“The BJP, on the other hand, has just nominated Anant Maharaj, a prominent Rajbanshi leader, to the Rajya Sabha. Nisith Pramanik, another Rajbanshi leader, is Union minister of state for home affairs in the central government,” Malviya added.
Adhikari on Wednesday went to Dhupguri to campaign for party candidate Tapasi Roy, where he called the chief minister "taar kata (deranged)" and spoke on her government's "corruption", but not on her "leg" remarks. But BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar, who was also in Dhupguri earlier in the day, lambasted her remarks. "How can she say this," he told the media.
The saffron party, observers said, got a boost to twist the chief minister’s remarks as Bangshibadan Barman, a Rajbanshi leader, expressed his discontent over them.
On Tuesday, Barman, who heads a faction of the Greater Cooch Behar Peoples’ Association, sought an apology from the chief minister.
"We are disappointed as she has compared us with her legs. If required, we will launch a movement in protest,” Barman, who chairs the Rajbanshi Bhasha Academy and Rajbanshi Development and Culture Board, both constituted by the Mamata government, said.
On Wednesday evening, Mamata took to X to slam those "traitors of Bengal" who were "misinterpreting" her remarks.
"My love & respect for the Rajbanshi culture reflects in our vision & work for upliftment of the community. Shame on the traitors of Bengal who inject their hatred into my statements of love, unity, & profound respect for our people. By deliberately misinterpreting my figure of speech, the BJP has exposed its own casteist mentality and divisive politics. INDIA will teach them a lesson!" she wrote.
Mahua Gope, the Trinamul president of Jalpaiguri district, said Rajbanshis know what the chief minister did for them. “The BJP has become politically bankrupt,” she said, referring to the saffron leaders' statements.
Parthapratim Roy, a former MP and party’s spokesperson in Cooch Behar, said the Rajbanshis understood the essence of the chief minister’s speech where she spoke of wanting to move ahead together with all communities.
Additional reporting by our Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar correspondents