Samik: Not party's job to attend ‘namaz' or ‘hari naam sankirtan'
Bhattacharya, who emphasised BJP's "inclusive politics", also claimed that Trinamool had fostered divisions in society.
"A political party's duty is not to participate in namaz or hari naam sankirtan, but to provide assistance to people for hospitalisation, admission in schools, or better civic amenities. People don't come to political workers to listen to Sundarkanda of Ramayana," Bhattacharya said at a workers' meet in Cooch Behar.
Bhattacharya, who has earlier tried to bridge the gap with minority communities and said BJP is not against Muslims, asked party workers to refrain from divisive politics. "A political party's job is not to wedge a divide among people. We want Durga visarjan and Muharram processions to go forward simultaneously. They shouldn't need different routes," he said.
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Taking on Trinamool, Bhattacharya said: "Who is trying to change the situation in Bengal? Who is forcing Hindus to unite overnight? Trinamool has changed the narrative in West Bengal."
He claimed a member of the Muslim community could not even protest against atrocities on Hindus without being "attacked" by the governing party.
In the same breath, the Bengal BJP president criticised attempts at radicalisation. "What is happening in Murshidabad, Maheshtala or Kidderpore? Radicalisation is a curse on the entire world and we have to fight against this," he said.
Saying the party had always put the country first, Bhattacharya said: "Indira Gandhi was a Congress neta. Yet (former PM Atal Bihari) Vajpayee ji called her 'Devi Durga'. BJP doesn't believe in political differences if it is about the national interest."
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