Mamata visits Furfura Sharif for iftar, sparks political speculations

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee visits Furfura Sharif for Iftar party, sparking political controversy over Muslim support base.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited Furfura Sharif in Hooghly’s Jangipara locality on Monday and took part in an Iftar party with Imams and Peerzadas at the prominent religious site.

“Just the way I exchanged greetings for Holi, I am extending my best wishes for the holy month of Ramadan. I pray that Allah (God) accepts the prayers and (Roja) fasting of everyone,” the Chief Minister said. She also added that unity and communal amity is the foundation of society.

The visit to Furfura Sharif comes days after she met Indian Secular Front (ISF) chairperson and MLA Nawsad Siddique. He is from a family of Peerzadas, and religious leaders of the Furfura Sharif shrine, and set up the party along with Abbas Siddique, a prominent religious preacher ahead of the 2021 assembly polls.

Politics in the State is on the boil currently over remarks by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari directed at Muslim MLAs.

Mr. Adhikari said Ms. Banerjee’s aim was to consolidate her vote bank. He said that the Chief Minister visits Furfura Sharif before every Assembly poll and claimed that she does not pay it much attention after the election.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also spoke on similar lines and said the visit was to win over the Muslim support base. The Muslim electorate in the State has been firmly behind the Trinamool Congress for the 14 years it has been in power. Despite the emergence of political parties like ISF, the minority population has continued to support the Trinamool Congress.

The ISF forged an electoral alliance with the Left parties and Congress in the 2021 Assembly polls but failed to make an impression. Nawsad Siddique, who represents Bhangar Assembly seat backed out of contesting against Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Diamond Harbour seat.