Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday claimed that the ideology of the Islamic State group was now converging with that of extreme-Left groups in India, ANI reported. The minister cited an incident at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi as an example of this convergence. However, he did not clarify which incident he was referring to.

“The demand of political autonomy is rising as an Islamist movement,” he said while addressing a seminar on “Integral Humanism” in the national Capital. “You can see the signs throughout India. I feel India is fortunate that elements like the Islamic State are few as compared to other countries. However, the opinions arising from them and ultra-left opinions are converging in some sectors.”

Jaitley claimed that the impact of communism in West Bengal and Kerala was “drowning out”. “Even in states like West Bengal and Kerala, the presence of the Communist ideology is being washed away, and slowly the support for the Bharatiya Janata Party is growing in numbers,” he added.

The minister also stated that the Congress no longer occupied the centre stage of politics in the country, which had given the Bharatiya Janata Party the opportunity to take over this position.