‘BJP hatching conspiracy to spread communal tension’

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC), on Friday, alleged that the BJP is hatching a conspiracy to spread communal tension in the state ahead of “Sanhati (harmony) rally” on January 22 after Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari allegedly made a “doctored post” on social media which was later deleted.

Adhikari shared a 2023 message with misleading claims that electricity maintenance activities will be carried out on January 22, 2024. Adhikari had posted on social media saying: “Many BJP Karyakartas of Burdwan have forwarded me such text messages sent by the WBSEDCL.” The post was, however, deleted later. TMC said Adhikari did this to further consolidate his “abject lies”.

TMC appealed to the police administration to take necessary action against “fake news peddlers”. In a press statement, TMC on Friday said: “Suvendu Adhikari gets caught in his own lies. BJP is conspiring communal unrest ahead of January 22 in the state by spreading lies. Trinamool Congress leaders on Friday exposed yet another conspiracy by BJP leader Adhikari who attempted to spark communal tension through doctored posts on social media. The post was hurriedly deleted after Adhikari was called out on his lies.”

Senior TMC leader and state power minister Aroop Biswas in a post on X said: “Ever since Smt. @MamataOfficial announced her all-faith ‘Sanhati’ rally, a faction of @BJP4India’s state leadership, goaded by @SuvenduWB, has resorted to spreading baseless propaganda. Today, in his sheer desperation, Adhikari went so far as to circulate a fraudulent notice from the WBSEDCL, evidently with the malafide intent of stoking communal tensions. Realising the legal ramifications of it, he later deleted the tweet. Why hide behind such egregious lies when you know you can’t defend them?”

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: “Adhikari hurriedly tweeted something and then deleted it. He insinuated that the state’s electricity wing would temporarily snap connections in some places, particularly on January 22. Shortly after the tweet was made, people got to know that the message was issued last year for electricity maintenance work. He deleted his tweet after being exposed.”

The party’s women wing president Chandrima Bhattacharya said: “It is shocking to see him utter such absurd claims. Even though the post was deleted, who will compensate for the spread of misinformation owing to that one post? Why is it that only the Leader of Opposition makes such deliberate “errors”?

TMC national spokesperson Shashi Panja also slammed Adhikari by saying, “I want to ask him how low can he stoop? We strongly condemn the BJP’s continuous efforts to spark communal unrest through fake and misleading updates. We also urge state authorities to take action against such culprits who attempt to stoke communal tensions.”