Won't force you to say Jai Shri Ram: Suvendu Adhikari's poll pitch to minorities

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday appealed to minority voters in Nandigram to support the BJP in the October 6 bypoll, calling it the "most auspicious occasion to build a friendship" with the party.

Campaigning for BJP candidate Hasirani Rath, he also attacked the Trinamool Congress, alleged corruption under its previous dispensation and highlighted the work and promises of his government.

Speaking at Birulia Bazar in Nandigram II block, where the BJP has traditionally found it difficult because of a large number of Muslim voters, Adhikari said turning away from the BJP would no longer help the minority community as the TMC had "ceased to exist".

"This is the best time to extend your hand of friendship towards us. October 6 is an auspicious day. You won't get a better opportunity to hold our hands as friends. Yes, we chant 'Jai Shree Ram', but we don't force you to do it. You can choose not to and just say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'," he said.

He added that the CBI had already made arrests and completed "90 per cent of the job". "Only the Diamond Harbour company remains to be formally linked to the crime," Adhikari said, in an indirect reference to TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee. He urged voters to answer the killing through the ballot. "On October 6, there must be a democratic retaliation for the murder of Chandranath on EVMs," he said.

Without naming Mamata Banerjee or Abhishek Banerjee directly, Adhikari said the TMC's name and symbol had already been erased from the state. "When I went to collect the certificate of the winning candidate from Nandigram, I had said that there would be no name or symbol of the TMC. The aunt-nephew duo's dry grass and twin flower symbol no longer exist. The chhinnamool people tried hard on the EVMs. The people have driven Mamata Banerjee's party out," he said.

He was referring to the Election Commission allotting different names and symbols for the bypolls to the Mamata Banerjee and Arup Roy factions of the TMC. Adhikari said the party, backed by a large section of minority voters in earlier Nandigram elections, had become non-existent after splitting into two parties with new names.

On corruption, Adhikari made an oblique reference to a "big thief". "Smaller fries like Sumit Roy have gone to jail. When will the big thief go? I assure you that the big thief too will also go to jail," he said. He asked voters to ensure that all rival candidates lost their security deposits and said "there's no end to the sins and tortures committed by the TMC". In a sarcastic remark on TMC candidate Sanchita Dey Pradhan, he said she had already "withdrawn her own nomination and gone flying like a kite".

He alleged that the previous TMC dispensation had followed a politics of appeasement and said his government had "rectified" the laws governing OBC reservations and withdrawn a petition pending before the Supreme Court.

He also said the government had published the merit list for recruitment of 12,000 police constables in a transparent manner and that there had been no protests over it. "I will hand over appointment letters to the recruits on October 11," he said.