Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | MVA using one community as vote bank: BJP's Suvendu Adhikari

Adhikari said, 'MVA is an opportunist alliance, just like the TMC in West Bengal. Both rely on family politics and exploit one community as a vote bank.'

Mumbai: In a sharp attack on the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), West Bengal’s Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday compared with the Mamata Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) for allegedly using one community as vote bank.

“TMC indulged in corruption, nepotism, and appeasement politics,” said Adhikari, a former union minister in the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government.

"The MVA is an opportunist alliance, just like the TMC in West Bengal. Both rely on family politics and exploit one community as a vote bank,” Adhikari said.

“This community's population has been steadily increasing from 14 per cent in Bengal in 1951, to 32 per cent. Similarly, in Jharkhand, their population has risen from 9 per cent to 24 per cent. This is the result of appeasement politics," Adhikari said and expressed concern over the rise in the number of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

"The supply line originates in Bengal. Fake Aadhaar cards, voter enrolments, and other illegal activities are carried out there. There are 72 locations in Bengal where the state government has refused to provide land for the Border Security Force (BSF). This allows illegal entries and activities that disrupt the security and economy of states like Maharashtra,” he said.

Hitting out at Banerjee, the Western Bengal Chief Minister, he accused her of allowing entry to Rohingyas and Bangladeshi immigrants.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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