Kolkata: CPI(M) leader Mohammed Salim on Sunday alleged the BJP was trying to dictate the lifestyle of Bengalis and divide people along communal lines, as was done by Mamata Banerjee for political mileage, while asserting the Left opposed religious imposition and not religion itself.
“It is not easy to change the lifestyle and the behaviour of the people of Bengal. If anyone thinks they will do so by bringing some so-called gurus from outside, they are mistaken,” he told a rally of the CPI(M)’s youth wing, DYFI, at Esplanade in central Kolkata.
He was referring to remarks by Bageshwar Dham head priest Dhirendra Krishna Shastri on eating non-vegetarian food during Durga Puja.
Asserting the Left were not against religion, Salim, the CPI(M)’s West Bengal unit secretary, said, “We are against religion imposition.
“The government’s job is not to propagate any religion, but to run schools and colleges, provide job opportunities to the unemployed, develop infrastructure, and provide social security to the people,” he said and accused the BJP of trying to instrumentalise faith to polarise communities.
Accusing former chief minister Mamata Banerjee of using religion to gain political mileage, Salim said that if political loss is inevitable, one cannot survive by holding on to religion.
The CPI(M) leader accused the BJP of trying to rewrite the history of the country and also of West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee had also tried to do the same, he alleged.
“As if Bengal’s story started from 2011 when they (TMC) came to power. After the BJP came to power in Bengal (in 2026), they have declared war on unemployed youths, students, universities, hawkers, small traders, workers and farmers in the name of a double-engine government,” Salim said.
Taking a jibe at the ruling party, he said the BJP was attempting to create a triple-engine government by winning municipal elections, due in the next few months.
Salim said the BJP had promised everything possible to the people during the elections but has forgotten those within months of coming to power. “But now, the youth are seeking accountability”.
“Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had promised jobs to agitating teachers who lost their jobs before the BJP came to power, but now they intend to close down the schools,” he alleged.
Asserting that it was not possible to browbeat the Leftists, Salim said, “More than 85,000 false cases have been lodged against the Red flag holders.” He maintained that the Left were fighting their political battle in accordance with the law, abiding by democratic norms.
