On Fish In Bengal Polls, Babul Supriyo's "Cow Protection" Defence

Babul Supriyo, vocalist-politician and Trinamool Congress's import from the BJP, told NDTV that the idea that the BJP would tamper with the fish on Bengal's dinner plate, is not "false propaganda" but an informed conclusion based on real events. And when people question how a government can dictate what anyone may eat, it is also fear talking -- a fear born out of the actual incidents, he added. 

Speaking to NDTV Editor-in-Chief and CEO Rahul Kanwal in Walk The Talk, Supriyo said earlier, "There were cases of cow protection, where people were killed".

"These allegations against the BJP started from there -- when their leaders said such things. Won't Muslims be afraid when you say, "Look at who those four children belong to?" And this is not the first time they have said it," he said. 

"These things happened, and fear was created. Now, they put up various things. People say, "Will you decide what we will eat and what we will not eat?... This fear is completely natural. And I say that the politics of polarization in Bengal - whatever you put on the opposite side - polarization will not be able to count for it," he added.

Supriyo, who made his debut from Asansol and won two terms, is now Trinamool's Rajya Sabha MP. 

Back in 2021, when he quit the BJP and joined Trinamool after being dropped from the Union cabinet, many had called him an opportunist. Supriyo had said he was "forced to quit like Lionel Messi".

Today, Supriyo told NDTV that people who work do not get credit in the BJP. 

"The problem is acknowledging good work. They (the BJP) don't have that habit. On the contrary, the second time around, many attempts were made to ruin my work. Without working, can one win by a margin of 200,000 votes-three times the previous margin-against the Trinamool? Do you think that's possible?" he said.

Supriyo had served as Union minister in the first government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He switched sides shortly after he was dropped.