• Source:JND
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West Bengal BJP leader and Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday courted a fresh controversy while reacting to Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah's invitation to people of Bengal to visit the union territory.

Adhikari asked Bengalis not to visit Kashmir as it is a Muslim majority area. He further said that they could visit Jammu. He recalled the Pahalgam terror attack saying that sindoor and body parts were checked before killing.

He said, "No Bengali will visit Kashmir. I am saying this out of party affiliation, don't visit places where Muslims are in the majority. Go to Jammu if you are going to visit J&K. Body parts and Sindoor were checked before killing. Go to Himachal Pradesh, it is Dev Bhoomi. Go to Uttarakhand and Odisha. We should visit all parts of the country... I am warning the people of Bengal not to visit Muslim majority places. Your life is your priority. Protect your lives, children and women..."

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Adhikari's comments drew sharp criticism from Congress. Congress' Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Tariq Hameed Karra said that BJP's high moral ground statements during the Pahalgam episode are exposed now.

Demanding sacking of Adhikari, Karra said, "BJP's mentality is out. The statements they made on high moral grounds during the Pahalgam episode are exposed now. If this is not the BJP's mentality, then that person must be sacked from his position, and he should be removed from the party; only then will we believe that it is not the BJP's mentality. Otherwise, it would mean that the BJP created it and made him make that statement..."

On Thursday, Omar Abdullah met West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata at the state secretariat and invited her to visit Kashmir.

While expressing gratitude to the TMC chief for sending assistance teams to Poonch and Rajouri following the Pahalgam terror attack, he extended the invitation, which was accepted by Mamata.

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Mamata said she would visit the UT after the Durga Puja festivities in September while calling on the people of Bengal to travel to Kashmir, assuring them that there was nothing to fear.