The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) today took on the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as on Monday she warned the people against “minority extremism”. The AIMIM gave a sharp rebuttal saying the Muslims in her state have one of the worst human development indicators.

In a series of tweets AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said, “It’s not religious extremism to say that Bengal’s Muslims have one of the worst human development indicators of any minority.  If Didi is worried about a bunch of us “from Hyderabad” then she should tell us how BJP won 18/42 LS seats from Bengal.”

Without taking the name of the Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which has been trying to make inroads in the eastern states including Bengal, Banerjee said, “I find there are some extremists among the minorities. There is a political party not from here, but from Hyderabad, which is telling that it will offer protection to minorities. Don’t make such a mistake.”

The state BJP called Mamata’s bid as a desperate attempt to regain the votes of the majority society which had turned its back on her.

Bringing about an apparent change in her rhetoric against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Banerjee on Monday spoke out against “minority extremism” during a Trinamool workers’ meeting in Cooch Behar in north Bengal.

In yet another tweet Owaisi said, “What is extremism? Extremism is when you don’t empower the Muslims, give them their rightful share, education and reservations, don’t allow a political leadership to emerge. Mamta Banerjee is practicing this extremism. “

State BJP General Secretary Raju Bandopadhyay said if the Trinamool Congress supremo “is at all honest in her worries” about minority extremism, then “why doesn’t she drive out the Rohingya Muslims, who are nothing but extremists.”

“But it is common knowledge that whatever Mamata Banerjee does or says, her sole aim is to grab votes. She is not bothered about the nation’s interest. The majority society has now turned away from her. She is trying hard to regain their support,” Bandopadhyay told news agency IANS.

“On the contrary, she has been pampering them with the tax payers’ money,” he said.

The Trinamool had failed to open its account in north Bengal in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, with the BJP making huge inroads in Bengal by grabbing seven of the eight seats in the region. The Congress won one seat.