Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sheikh Alam’s purported remarks that “four Pakistans” can be created if India’s “30% Muslims come together” drew flak from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday.

BJP leader Amit Malviya, who is the party’s co-incharge for West Bengal, tweeted a video that showed Alam purportedly making the controversial statements.

Sheikh Alam was addressing the gathering at Nanoor's Basapara situated in the Birbhum assembly constituency when he gave this controversial statement.

His speech in Bengali translates to "We are 30 percent and they are 70 percent. They will come to power with the support of the 70 percent, they should be ashamed. If our Muslim population moves to one side then we can create 4 new Pakistans. Where will this 70 percent of the population go?".

BJP has attacked TMC over the statement as its IT cell head Amit Malviya tweeted a video of the statement while writing. "He obviously owes his allegiance to Mamata Banerjee... Does she endorse this position? Do we want a Bengal like that?"

During the last assembly election, a minister of the Mamta Banerjee-led government had made a similar controversial remark. Just hours before the fifth phase of voting in the last assembly election, Minister Firhad Hakim had declared the Garden Reach area as "Mini Pakistan" which led to a lot of debates.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen, if TMC and CM Mamata will clarify their position on Sheikh Alam's statement.

The controversy, which came two days ahead of the first round of polling, is the latest to have surfaced in the politically charged atmosphere of the state that goes to elections in eight phases beginning March 27, and where the polarisation debate is taking the centre stage.

The BJP accuses chief minister Banerjee’s government of minority appeasement at the cost of others with analysts suggesting that the national party is trying to consolidate the Hindu vote — cutting across caste lines — to win Bengal. Banerjee, on the other hand, has tried to strike a chord with the larger Bengali identity encompassing all castes and religions, while calling the BJP a party of “outsiders”.

The BJP has successfully built its narrative, asking why Banerjee did not approve of the “Jai Shri Ram” chant. Banerjee has tried to handle the delicate issue politically, doing Chandipaath (recital of mantras) ahead of her nomination filing for Nandigram in order to reach out to Hindus. But observers feel controversies such as the one featuring Alam could hurt the TMC.

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