NANDIGRAM: The leader of the opposition in the Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, has warned Muslim migrant workers in Nandigram that “they would have to return to BJP-governed states” for work after the assembly polls. Saying over 30,000 people from Nandigram were employed in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Odisha, Adhikari singled out Muslims and said they “could not afford to make a mistake”. “There are 30,000 migrant workers… In Gujarat, 1,100 Muslim young men from Nandigram reside; 800 in Odisha; and 3,300 in Maharashtra. Whose govt is there in Odisha? Whose govt is there in Maharashtra? Whose govt is in Gujarat? BJP’s! Don’t make a mistake! Mend your ways… so that there are no problems after May 4 (the day of counting). You can give threatening looks and say ‘Joy Bangla’, but I am writing down everything,” he said. The remarks drew criticism from TMC. Its Nandigram candidate, Pabitra Kar, while campaigning, said Adhikari’s politics were based only on “threats and intimidation”. “As an elected representative, it is his responsibility that everyone in his constituency lives in peace. He has done exactly the opposite. But Nandigram residents will reply to his threats in the EVM,” Kar told TOI. A Trinamool spokesperson said the party will report the matter to EC. Meanwhile, an analysis by Kolkata-based public policy research organisation Sabar Institute said Muslims made up 95.5% of names deleted from Nandigram’s voter rolls in SIR, even though they account for about 25% of the constituency’s population. Only 4.5% of those removed were non-Muslims, it said.
