West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday alleged that the previous TMC government had considered only Muslims as a minority. The BJP leader said that Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains are also religious minorities in India.
CM Adhikari visited the Gurdwara Bara Sikh Sangat in the city's trading hub of Burrabazar and participated in a procession of the Sikh community in the area.
"Minority does not mean a particular community. Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains are also (religious) minorities. The previous TMC government considered only Muslims as a minority," the chief minister told reporters after greeting members of the Sikh community at the gurdwara.
"They (Sikhs) are the truest patriots," the chief minister said.
Adhikari in recent times has repeatedly accused the Mamata Banerjee-led government of indulging in the appeasement of the Muslim community to garner their support in elections.
Earlier, he had attacked the Left Front and TMC governments, accusing them of exploiting religious festivals, cultural traditions, and linguistic differences for political gain. Adhikari also asserted that his government would not allow the return of what he described as divisive and appeasement-driven politics.
He had alleged that the previous regime had sought to divide the Sanatan community by exploiting linguistic differences and portraying people from other states as outsiders. "Indian citizens coming from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra were branded as outsiders, while illegal immigrants from Bangladesh were treated with undue hospitality," the chief minister said.
"We will work to permanently keep away from the people of Bengal both the 34-year-old atheist Communists and the 15-year-old Jamaat-following Trinamool (TMC). The present government will ensure that they never get an opportunity to raise their heads again," the CM was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
