KOLKATA: Bengal’s leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari sparked outrage on Tuesday by declaring BJP would “physically throw Muslim MLAs out of the assembly” after the party “forms the next govt” in the Trinamool-governed state that goes to polls in 2026.
CM Mamata Banerjee’s party protested the remark, terming it “hate speech” and questioning Adhikari’s “mental stability” after the defection of BJP’s Haldia MLA Tapasi Mondal to its ranks the previous day.
Adhikari, who was suspended from the assembly on Feb 17 till the end of the budget session, labelled the Mamata govt “a communal administration that is behaving like the second version of Muslim League”. “The people of Bengal will uproot them this time,” he told reporters outside the assembly.
‘Hate Speech’
TMC slams Suvendu for ‘dangerous and provocative’ remarks
The state BJP brass declined comment on Suvendu Adhikari’s remarks.
Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said it didn’t behove an elected representative to use such incendiary language against fellow legislators. “In Parliament or state assemblies, there can be debate and arguments. But to rake up religion and target MLAs belonging to a specific community is contrary to the principles of the Constitution. It’s dangerous, provocative and depraved. It’s also a criminal offence.”
This isn’t the first instance of Adhikari’s statements causing unease even in his party. After BJP’s below-par performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Bengal, Adhikari had called for an end to the party’s ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ slogan.
“I will say ‘Jo hamare saath, hum unke saath’. We don’t need minority morcha,” he said, causing party colleagues to publicly disown the remark.
