India News | CPI, BJP Slam TMC for Misleading Minorities for Vote Bank

Kolkata, Aug 22 (PTI) Day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee indirectly slammed the Indian Secular Front (ISF) of doing politics in the name of Furfura Sharif, the CPI(M) and the BJP accused the ruling TMC of misleading the minorities in the state for the sake of vote bank politics.

Banerjee, on Monday, while addressing a convention of Imams, said some people are doing politics in the name of Furfura Sharif, unlike Belur Math, which is never involved in any form of politics.

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"Some young men are being misguided and are doing politics in the name of Furfura Sharif. This should not be the practice. There is no politics in Belur Math. Similarly, there should be no politics with Furfura Sharif as we keep our faith in our minds and hearts, and above everything," she had said.

Banerjee, without naming, was attacking ISF and its MLA Naushad Siddiqui.

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CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said it is the TMC which had started using religion as a tool to pursue vote bank politics.

"TMC started this vote bank politics in the state and has used religious leaders and religion to achieve this target. The TMC has no right to speak on the issue," he said.

State BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya accused the ruling TMC of misleading the minorities in the state for the sake of vote bank politics.

"The ruling TMC is misleading the minorities in the state for the sake of vote bank politics. The TMC has shown the way; other parties like ISF are just following in their footsteps," he said.

Lone ISF MLA Naushad Siddiqui could not be contacted for a comment.

The Indian Secular Front (ISF) was floated two years ago by Islamic clerics, descendants of clerics of Furfura Sharif.

Reacting to allegations, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the allegations of minority appeasement against the TMC are baseless.

"The allegations are baseless. We believe in taking along everyone and development of all, unlike the BJP, which believes in divisive politics," he said.

On Monday, Banerjee had announced a hike in the monthly allowance of Muslim clerics and Hindu priests by Rs 500.

The opposition BJP and the CPI(M) dubbed it a "cheap poll gimmick" to woo minority votes.

The imams (Muslim clerics) receive a monthly allowance of Rs 2,500, whereas muezzins receive a stipend of Rs 1,000 since 2012.

In 2012, a year after coming to power, the TMC government announced the monthly honorarium to imams and muezzins in the state.

After the court rejected the allowance announced by the West Bengal government for Imams and Muezzins as unconstitutional and against the public interest, the state government then routed it through the Wakf Board of West Bengal.

In 2020, just months ahead of the 2021 assembly polls, when the BJP was breathing down the neck with allegations of minority appeasement, the TMC government announced monthly financial assistance of Rs 1,000 and free housing for over 8,000 priests of the state.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)