A key feature of the Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) continued dominance in West Bengal politics is that it has been built on the foundation of support from women and the Muslim vote. However, months away from the Assembly elections, the TMC finds itself confronting brewing discontent among backward Muslims about changes in the state’s Other Backward Classes (OBC) list, keeping the Mamata Banerjee-led party on its toes.

On October 23, a few thousand Muslim youths organised a protest March in Murshidabad town, following a meeting at a local auditorium, marking the first protest by the minority community on this issue. The protesters, among whom are several Muslim intellectuals, allege that the new list, published in May and June this year following a fresh survey, has not only dropped several l

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