Kolkata: The BJP-led state govt’s work during its first six months in office is merely “morning tea and biscuits”, said CM Suvendu Adhikari in the assembly on Wednesday. “Breakfast is yet to be served and lunch will follow,” he added.Linking his govt’s development agenda to BJP’s electoral success in minority-dominated Rejinagar, Adhikari said the state govt’s development policies made no distinction between citizens on religious grounds.“We are ‘sanatanis’, we are Hindus, and we proudly wear tilak on our foreheads. But when it comes to running govt and administration, we do not discriminate. We accord the highest priority to the development of every citizen, irrespective of their religious identity,” Adhikari said and added that Rejinagar results had shattered the opposition’s attempts to portray BJP as communal.“For so many years, minorities have been used as vote bank and kept at a distance when it was the question of development. They have now voted for BJP, in favour of development,” the CM said.Citing a detailed breakdown of the voting pattern in Rejinagar, Adhikari added, “Of the nearly 300 polling booths in Rejinagar, only 100 were dominated by ‘sanatani’ or Hindu voters. Yet, our candidate, Shankharav Sarkar, secured a massive lead of over 75,000 votes from minority-dominated booths. Muslim women who receive Annapurna Bhandar benefits placed their trust in BJP.”Taking a swipe at the opposition, Adhikari claimed that its electoral setbacks had become evident even before the bypolls and alleged that former CM Mamata Banerjee had abandoned the contest in Nandigram before polling.
