“Disenchanted”: Mamata Banerjee After Opposition Questions Go to To Shrine
Kolkata:
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday conveyed the message of “concord, peace and unity” from Furfura Sharif, whereas slamming opposition voices that questioned her intentions behind visiting the outstanding shrine.
Mamata Banerjee visited Furfura Sharif, a village in Hooghly district – which homes the sacred shrine of Mohammad Abu Bakr Siddique, a outstanding ‘pir’ (spiritual chief) of a bit of Bengali Muslims – after almost a decade, and held a gathering with the native spiritual leaders earlier than taking part in the neighborhood’s Iftar.
The ‘pirs’ or spiritual leaders of Furfura Sharif are believed to carry appreciable sway over vital sections of Bengali-speaking Muslims within the state and, as such, have been beforehand wooed by political dispensations as a doable vote financial institution.
“I’m disenchanted to see stories in sections of the media questioning my intentions to come back right here. This is not my first go to to this place, I’ve been right here about 15-16 instances earlier than. Why do you not ask this query after I go to Kashi Vishwanath Temple or Pushkar? Why do you keep silent after I observe Durga Puja and Kali Puja or take part in Christmas celebrations? Why weren’t questions requested after I wished everybody throughout Holi?” the TMC chief mentioned.
“The soil of Bengal is the soil of concord and our message from this platform is one among concord, peace and unity amongst all communities of the state,” she asserted.
The chief minister additionally assured the Furfura leaders that she would look into sure calls for of native infrastructure growth raised by the residents. She introduced the establishing of a polytechnic faculty within the space, too.
Earlier within the day, numerous opposition leaders took a dig at Mamata Banerjee’s go to to Furfura Sharif, claiming that her “true intentions” have been “political” and meant at “searching for electoral assist from the Muslim neighborhood within the state meeting elections scheduled subsequent yr”.
“Mamata Banerjee had taken help from Furfura leaders prior to now to cement her place in energy. She additionally betrayed the individuals there by failing to ship on her promise of railway connectivity within the space. Banerjee is kind of conscious of the electoral good points she might have if she retains the Siddique leaders and the ‘pirs’ of the area in good humour,” senior Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury mentioned.
“She desires to go there to hunt the assist of the neighborhood for the upcoming state elections. It’s her intention to unify all Muslims beneath her umbrella and, on the identical time, rally as many Hindus as doable in her favour. We’re nicely conscious of this technique,” Chowdhury added.
Chief of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari dubbed the chief minister’s go to to the shrine as a “pre-election ritual”.
“She visits Furfura Sharif every time there’s an election knocking on the door,” Adhikari informed reporters.
CPI(M) chief Sujan Chakraborty claimed that Mamata Banerjee was attempting to “check waters” inside the Muslim neighborhood forward of the polls.
Pirzada Twaha Siddique, among the many clerics of Furfura Sharif with a historical past of previous proximity with the Trinamool Congress, mentioned, “I discover it ridiculous {that a} part of leaders who had persistently bad-mouthed Mamata Banerjee and different TMC leaders prior to now at the moment are attempting to politically cozy up along with her now.”
Pirzada Abbas Siddique, the elder brother to ISF MLA Naushad Siddique who has remained a vociferous critic of Mamata Banerjee and among the many newer era of clerics, was conspicuous by his absence from the programme alongside together with his brother.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
