In a sudden development, a number of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) men, including their senior leader Anwar Pasha, on Monday joined the Trinamool Congress in an apparent bid to stop division of minority votes in Bengal by claiming Asaduddin Owaisi-led party was only acting as a “polariser of votes” to help the BJP.
The AIMIM, however, claimed, Pasha was just a “party worker”, and the TMC leadership was trying to fool the masses.
Alleging that a few people are trying to steer the country towards destruction using religion, Pasha said those who are eyeing Bengal at present, whether “wearing saffron or green”, should know that there is no place for creating religious divisions in the State.
“AIMIM has played a hand in the polarisation of votes in Bihar and thus helped the BJP in forming the Government there, but this will not happen in Bengal,” he said.
Pasha, who was welcomed to the TMC fold by Ministers Bratya Basu and Moloy Ghatak, said that 30 per cent of West Bengal’s population are Muslims, asserting that the political developments in Bihar cannot be emulated in Bengal.
Urging Muslims in the State to stand by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he said the AIMIM chief should not come to Bengal.
Owaisi had said on Sunday that the party is deliberating with the West Bengal unit over contesting the assembly elections and will take a decision on getting feedback from them.
Pasha said fear was being created in the minds of minorities over CAA and NRC and the West Bengal CM “is fighting for us and has taken to the streets to support us.
“Making a law in Parliament is not the end, it has to be implemented on the ground,” he said.
Senior AIMIM leader and in-charge of Bengal, Asim Waqar, declined to attach much importance to the development and urged the TMC not to fool the masses with their “dirty tricks”.
“Those who have joined the TMC today are neither leaders nor office bearers of the state AIMIM unit. They are just party workers, just like lakhs of AIMIM workers across the state. The TMC should stop pursuing such dirty tricks. Their joining would not have any impact on our prospects in Bengal,” Waqar said.