File picture of West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party President Samik Bhattacharya. | Photo credit: ANI
Extending an olive branch to the minorities in the state, West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party President Samik Bhattacharya on Saturday said Muslims were the highest 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 who are killed in West Bengal is not the same as the number of Muslims who are killed in Uttar Pradesh. That is not the picture of Madhya Pradesh in Gujarat. How many Muslims have been killed in Gujarat in the last 15 years, or in Uttar Pradesh, the leader of those who died in Bengal, no point of BJP near those who died in Bengal in high number of incidents of political violence in the state.
Mr. Bhattacharya said that in several areas of the state, the BJP cannot field its candidates or even hoist its flags, yet there are factional disputes resulting in the killing of minorities.
Admitting that Muslims in West Bengal do not vote for the BJP, the BJP president said the community members need to be asked what the Trinamool Congress has done for Muslims in the state. However, Mr. Bhattacharya also added that anyone who thinks that he can come to power only with the support of 28% of the electorate (Muslims constitute 27% of the electorate) is also wrong.
The West Bengal BJP president said this while addressing a rally of the minority BJP Morcha in the city. The remarks, which come ahead of parliamentary polls in the state, mark a significant departure from the saffron party’s earlier stance of not dealing with minorities. Minorities in West Bengal have overwhelmingly supported the Trinamool Congress since the 2011 parliamentary polls, and despite attempts by the Left, Congress and other smaller parties to garner minority support, Trinamool’s Muslim vote bank has not made much of a dent.
After the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, when the BJP’s Lok Sabha seats fell from 18 to 12 in West Bengal, Leader of the Opposition Suvenda Adhikari called for an end to the party’s slogan Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas, which pointed out that Muslims did not vote for the BJP.
“Stop Sabka Saath, Sabko Vikas. No need for minority morcha (BJP),” Mr Adhikari said. On Saturday, Mr. Bhattacharya said the BJP does not believe in the distinction of ‘majority’ and ‘minority’. “We have a minority morcha, so the gap between the majority and the minority is bridged,” the WB BJP president said.
Pointing out that thousands of youth from Muslim families in the state are leaving to work as migrant workers, Mr. Bhattacharya said that while poor Muslims are forced to send their children to madrassas, leaders from the community send their children to elite schools.
Trinamool has no intention of providing jobs, says Suvendu
Mr Adhikari on 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 the Opposition said that the budget, which was presented by the state government earlier this month, made it clear that the Trinamool Congress government was not providing any jobs. The BJP leader also claimed that the Banglar Yuva Sathi scheme announced in the budget to provide a monthly allowance scheme to the unemployed youth was nothing but a bluff.
Mr. Adhikari alleged that the ‘Yuva Sashri’ scheme, launched in 2013 to provide allowances and jobs to 17 lakh applicants, has effectively been discontinued and no funds have been allocated since the financial year 2017-18.
Published – 15 Feb 2026 02:55 IST