Trinamool refutes Suvendu’s OBC claim, says BJP misleading people

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday hit back at the BJP’s allegations of minority appeasement, citing official data to assert that the OBC list in Bengal is based purely on backwardness, not religion.

Taking to social media TMC leader Kunal Ghosh accused Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari of pitting Hindus against Muslims and misleading people in Bengal.

“LoP @SuvenduWB, we all know that ‘Divide and Rule’ is the official policy of @BJP4India, and your only agenda for the 2026 elections is to pit Hindus against Muslims. But Smt. @MamataOfficial has made it crystal clear that backwardness, not religion, is the sole criterion for OBC status. The new list was prepared with that principle in mind. So stop misleading the people with your lies,” he wrote on X. This comes after BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari accused the Mamata Banerjee government of crafting a “one-sided beneficiary” list to allegedly favour Muslim communities ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls. Adhikari claimed that the state’s updated OBC list disproportionately benefits Muslims, depriving Hindus and other communities. In response, TMC leaders shared data from the state’s Backward Classes Welfare Department’s official notification dated June 3, 2025.

According to the notification, out of the 140 OBC communities listed, 80 are Muslim and 60 are non-Muslim, placing Muslim representation at 57.14 per cent. The list is divided into two categories—Category A (More Backward) and Category B (Backward). In Category A, 36 of the 49 communities are Muslim (73.47%), while in Category B, 44 of the 91 are Muslim (48.35%). “The BJP’s claims are nothing but an attempt to divide Bengal on religious lines,” Ghosh said, adding that the OBC categorisation was done based on socio-economic indicators, not religious identity.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, addressing the Assembly earlier, had reiterated that “backwardness, not religion, is the only criterion” for inclusion in the OBC list.

The state government has also increased the reservation quota for OBCs in state services and posts from 7 per cent to 17 per cent through a notification. The new structure allots 10 per cent for Category A and 7 per cent for Category B. TMC accused BJP of selectively quoting statistics and engaging in divisive politics as part of its 2026 poll strategy, urging people to verify facts before falling prey to misinformation.