West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced a hike in the monthly allowance of Muslim clerics and Hindu priests by Rs 500.

IMAGE: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee greets as she arrives for a meeting with imams, and muezzins (persons who give azan – call to people for prayers in a mosque), across West Bengal, in Kolkata, August 21, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist dubbed it a "cheap poll gimmick" to woo minority votes.

While addressing a conference of imams and muezzins in Kolkata's Netaji Indoor stadium, Banerjee announced a hike of Rs 500 in the monthly allowance of Muslims Imams and Hindu priests.

"People have maligned me for my beliefs. When I attend Iftar during Ramzan, my photographs are ridiculed. BJP had even attempted to change my name. However, I don't care about it because it is my duty to see that people of different religions don't fight with one another," she said.

Accusing the BJP of making it an issue every time she participates in the programmes of minorities, Banerjee said she would continue to work for all communities throughout her life.

"Whenever I attend any programme of the minorities, I am accused of appeasing the minorities. I believe in love and respect for all. We have decided to hike the ongoing allowance of Imams and Muzzaeims and Hindu priests by Rs 500," she said.

Banerjee, who has been often criticised for pursuing appeasement politics to woo the thirty per cent minority electorate of the state, said the TMC government doesn't believe in discrimination.

"We don't do any discrimination; BJP does. They let go of convicts in the Bilkis Bano case. Everyone is witnessing the atrocities on minorities and tribals…We have given recognition to 307 unaided madrasahs; 700 more will be recognized this year," she said.

The imams (Muslim clerics) receive a monthly allowance of Rs 2,500, whereas muezzins receive a stipend of Rs 1,000 since 2012.

In 2012, a year after coming to power, the TMC government announced the monthly honorarium to imams and muezzins in the state.

After the court rejected the allowance announced by the West Bengal government for Imams and Muezzins as unconstitutional and against the public interest, the state government then routed it through the Wakf Board of West Bengal.

In 2020, just months ahead of the 2021 assembly polls, when the BJP was breathing down the neck with allegations of minority appeasement, the TMC government had announced monthly financial assistance of Rs 1,000 and free housing for over 8,000 priests of the state.

Banerjee's Monday announcement also attracted brickbats from the BJP and the CPI-M, which accused her of using dole politics to buy votes.

"Are Hindu priests at the mercy of Mamata Banerjee? The announcement aims to buy minority votes in the state ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. We condemn such politics," BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said.

CPI-M leader Shamik Lahiri said the announcement aims to sharpen the state's communal divide.

"The TMC wants to flare up communal issues to help BJP gain ground as such divisive policies and politics only help the BJP. The TMC has done it with an eye on Lok Sabha polls," he said.