Union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to West Bengal to participate in the birth anniversary celebrations of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore triggered a political row in the state where panchayat elections are likely to be held in the next few months.
Shah, who is on a one-day whirlwind visit to the eastern state, visited the ancestral house of the poet in central Kolkata on Tuesday morning to offer floral tributes. He is scheduled to attend a series of other programmes during the day.
“Every word Gurudev Rabindranath Thakur wrote liberated India’s spirit to dream of independence amid the chaos and pain of slavery, as his enchanting wisdom guides our soul even today. Paid my humble tribute to Gurudev on his birth anniversary at Jorasanko Thakurbari, Kolkata,” Shah tweeted after his visit to Jorasanko Thakurbari, Tagore’s ancestral house.
Leaders of the ruling-Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal and the CPI(M) stepped up their attack against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over Shah’s visit.
“Shah is coming to West Bengal at a time when Manipur in burning. Riots and arson are taking place and people are getting killed in the north-eastern state. He should have gone there. The Lok Sabha elections are scheduled in 2024 and that’s why he is coming to West Bengal. With all these, he won’t be able to touch the Bengali sentiments. He had failed even in 2021 and he will fail in 2024 again,” Firhad Hakim, state minister and senior TMC leader, told media persons.
{{/usCountry}}“Shah is coming to West Bengal at a time when Manipur in burning. Riots and arson are taking place and people are getting killed in the north-eastern state. He should have gone there. The Lok Sabha elections are scheduled in 2024 and that’s why he is coming to West Bengal. With all these, he won’t be able to touch the Bengali sentiments. He had failed even in 2021 and he will fail in 2024 again,” Firhad Hakim, state minister and senior TMC leader, told media persons.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier in April, addressing a rally in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, Shah had set a target for the state BJP - 35 of the state’s 42 parliamentary seats. In 2019, the BJP won 18 seats.
“Tagore was against any divisive politics. Can’t you see how they (BJP) have triggered caste-riots. How they were after Rohingyas. How they are triggering riots between Christians and Hindus. This is the game plan. They tried to hijack Bhagat Singh, but failed. Then they tried the same with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Swami Vivekananda and failed. Now they are trying to hijack Tagore,” Md Salim, CPI(M) state secretary, told reporters.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also attacked the BJP on Monday saying that saffron leaders campaigned for Karnataka polls and were coming to West Bengal but didn’t visit Manipur for once.
The chief minister is also scheduled to pay tributes to the Nobel laureate on his birth anniversary. In the morning, state ministers offered floral tributes to the poet at the state secretariat and at his ancestral home.
In January 2021, just ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections, Kolkata witnessed a tug-of-war between the BJP and the TMC with both parties holding rallies to showcase their strength on the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.
The crucial panchayat election, which is being seen as a litmus test for all political parties in the eastern state ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, is likely to be held before August this year.
“Shah’s schedule was already fixed. He had a few other political programmes which he changed later. But the way his paying tribute to Tagore was politicised is unfortunate and condemnable,” said Samik Bhattacharya, BJP spokesperson.