Tribal population dispensable in Oppn politics of selective outrage: BJP on Khagen Murmu attack

Kolkata, Oct 8 (IANS) The attack on BJP Lok Sabha member from West Bengal, Khagen Murmu, who comes from a tribal background, exemplifies how the tribal population is "simply dispensable" in politics of selective outrage pursued not only by the Trinamool Congress but also by Congress and Left parties, the BJP stated on Wednesday.

BJP’s Information Technology Cell chief and the party’s central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, issued a social media statement, where he questioned the silence of all the opposition parties in the country over the attack on Murmu, the two-time Lok Sabha member from Maldaha (Uttar) constituency in Malda district of West Bengal.

“Those who never miss a chance to sermonise about caste seem conveniently silent when a Tribal BJP MP is assaulted by a marauding Muslim mob in Bengal. Is it that Tribal lives and dignity don’t matter to Mamata Banerjee, Rahul Gandhi, and the Left ecosystem? Or are Tribals simply dispensable in their politics of selective outrage?” Malviya questioned in his social media statement.

The vehicle of Murmu, and the party’s Chief Whip in West Bengal Assembly, Shankar Ghosh, was attacked on Monday at Bamundanga in Jalpaiguri district while they were on their way to Nagrakata in the same district with relief material for the flood-affected people there.

While Murmu was severely injured in that attack, allegedly by Trinamool Congress supporters, Ghosh sustained minor injuries. Both Murmu and Ghosh are currently under treatment at a hospital in Siliguri in the Darjeeling district.

Political observers feel that Malviya had deliberately tagged Congress and Left parties along with Trinamool Congress in this exercise of highlighting the issue of the attack on Murmu to unite the voters from the Scheduled Tribe community in favour of the BJP amid the crucial West Bengal Assembly polls next year.

The Scheduled Tribes constitute a substantial portion of the total voters in certain districts in both South Bengal and North Bengal. Since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, a majority of the voters from this community, especially in North Bengal, have shifted in favour of the BJP, which was also evident in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Scheduled Caste voters for a long time constituted a strong and dedicated vote-bank for CPI(M)-led Left Front since 1977-- the year which marked the beginning of the 34-year Left Front rule in West Bengal.

These voters shifted towards Trinamool Congress in a major way in the 2011 Assembly elections -- which marked the end of the 34-year Left Front rule and the beginning of the Mamata Banerjee-led Left Front regime.

However, since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has started enjoying a massive support of the Scheduled Caste voters in the state.

In another social media post, Malviya has accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of making false claims on Tuesday that the Union government was not providing support for rescue and rehabilitation efforts after the floods in North Bengal.

"She was lying - like always. The Central government has been actively coordinating relief operations, providing financial assistance, and deploying teams for rescue and restoration. The West Bengal administration is missing though. Instead of playing politics over people’s suffering, Mamata Banerjee should focus on governance, not grievance," he said on X.

--IANS

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