West Bengal BJP leadership reaches out to Muslims, says Trinamool has done nothing for minorities

Extending an olive branch to the minorities of the State, West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party president Samik Bhattacharya on Saturday said that Muslims are the highest number of victims of political violence during the regime of the Trinamool Congress.

“Muslims are the ones dying and Muslims are the ones killing. The number of Muslims who are killed in West Bengal is not the same as the number of Muslims killed in Uttar Pradesh. This is not the picture of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat. How many Muslims have been killed in Gujarat in the past 15 years or in Uttar Pradesh, nowhere close to those who died in West Bengal,” the BJP leader said, pointing at high numbers of incidents of political violence in the State.

Mr. Bhattacharya said that in several areas of the State, the BJP cannot put its candidates or even raise their flags, yet there is factional feud resulting in killing of the minorities.

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

The West Bengal BJP president made the remarks while addressing a gathering of BJP Minority Morcha in the city. The remarks, which come ahead of the Assembly polls in the State, marks a significant departure from the earlier stand of the saffron party where it did not engage with minorities. The minorities in West Bengal have overwhelmingly supported Trinamool Congress since 2011 Assembly polls and despite the Left parties, Congress and other smaller parties trying to win the support of minorities, not much dent has been made to the Trinamool’s Muslim vote bank.

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

“Stop Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas. No need for minority morcha [of the BJP],” Mr. Adhikari said .Speaking on Saturday, Mr. Bhattacharya said that the BJP does not believe in the distinction of ‘majority’ vs ‘minority’. “ We have a minority morcha so that the divide between the majority and minority is bridged” the WB BJP president said.

Highlighting that lakhs of youth from Muslim families of the State are going out to work as migrant workers, Mr. Bhattacharya said that while poor Muslims are forced to send their children to madrasahs the leaders from the community send their children to elite schools.

Trinamool has no intention of providing jobs says Suvendu

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

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

Mr. Adhikari claimed that the ‘Yuva Sashri’ scheme, launched in 2013 to provide allowances and jobs to 17 lakh applicants, had effectively been terminated, with no funds allocated since the 2017-18 financial year.