'Mamata Banerjee's Islamic caliphate': BJP's Amit Malviya slams West Bengal CM over Kolkata holidays

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT cell head

Amit Malviya

on Wednesday sharply criticised West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee over a recent Kolkata MCD notification changing the holiday schedule. In his remark, he referred to the Mamata-led government as "Mamata Banerjee's Islamic caliphate of West Bengal."
However KMC clarified later that the notification was issued without approval from the competent authority and has since been cancelled.

KMC stated that the matter is being taken seriously, and action is being initiated against the officer responsible for the oversight.

The now-cancelled notice had announced two days off for

Eid-ul-Fitr

while removing the holiday for

Vishwakarma Puja

.
Malviya shared Kolkata MCD's notification on X, captioning it as, "Welcome to Mamata Banerjee's Islamic Caliphate of West Bengal." He accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government of religious appeasement and targeted Kolkata's Mayor,

Firhad Hakim

, alleging that he ordered the removal of the Hindu holiday.

In his post, Malviya linked the holiday adjustment to broader political motives, claiming it revealed Banerjee's "anti-OBC mindset" and a strategy to consolidate Muslim votes amid shifting political dynamics.
He argued that the decision deprived Hindus of cultural observances while burdening Muslim daily wage earners with an additional day off, rather fulfilling their needs of "education and employment."
Malviya also accused Banerjee of earlier altering the OBC sub-quota to include Muslims, a decision struck down by the Calcutta high court and currently under Supreme Court review. He vowed that the BJP would ensure justice through constitutional means.
"BJP will ensure justice as per constitutional provisions," he said.
The BJP leader also added in his statement that "Banerjee’s Muslim appeasement is destroying West Bengal’s social fabric. If she continues in office, in a few years, it will be difficult to recognise whether our Bengal is still the land of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Netaji, and Syama Prasad Mookerjee."