Trinamool Congress leader Kiran Kandolkar condemning the attempts made by the BJP to portray Mamata Banerjee as “anti-Hindu” said she belongs to the Brahmin Samaj

PANAJI — The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Goa for constantly referring to West Bengal Chief Minister and the party’s founder Mamata Banerjee as “anti-Hindu”.

“There is an attempt to project Mamata Banerjee as anti Hindu. I want to tell the people of Goa that the statements of the BJP leaders calling Mamata Banerjee as anti-Hindu is baseless,” Goa Trinamool Congress leader Kiran Kandolkar told a press conference.

“She cannot be anti Hindu. Mamata Banerjee belongs to the Brahmin Samaj. Her father was a freedom fighter. He was part of the freedom struggle,” Kandolkar also said.

Kandolkar’s comments come on the heels of several speeches made by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and several other BJP leaders who have alleged atrocities on BJP supporters in West Bengal as well as comments on social media, which claim that Banerjee was against the interests of the majority community in West Bengal.

“There are 19 districts in West Bengal and out of that 16 districts have a Hindu majority population. It is state where Hindu population is 70 per cent and the rest 30 per cent are others,” Kandolkar said.

“If that is the case, how did Mamata Banerjee overwhelmingly win elections on three occasions there and managed to get a vote share of more than 50 per cent. Did Mamata Banerjee win the elections because Hindus abstained from voting?” Kandolkar said, condemning attempts made by the BJP to portray Banerjee as “anti-Hindu”.