Modi should apologise for his ‘Bankim da’ remark: Mamata Banerjee
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had insulted the nation’s culture, history and freedom movement
Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should apologise to people for his remarks referring to Bankim Chandra Chatterjee as “Bankim da”. Even then he won’t be forgiven, she said.
“Yesterday he (Modi) referred to Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay as Bankim da. As if he is just any common man. He wrote our National Song and you (Modi) didn’t even give him a minimum respect? You should apologise for this publicly. Even then you won’t be forgiven because you have insulted the nation’s culture, history and freedom movement,” she said while addressing a political rally in Cooch Behar district in north Bengal.
Modi was recounting the rise of the Swadeshi movement when he said “This spirit created by Bankim da…”, while delivering a speech in Parliament to mark the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram.
TMC MP Sougata Roy immediately interrupted to point out that “da” was not the appropriate term to use. Meanwhile, in Delhi, TMC MPs staged a silent protest inside Parliament’s central hall
Stepping up her ante against the centre over stopping of funds to the state, Banerjee tore a piece of document, which she claimed was a copy of the Centre’s communique to the state in connection with MGNREGA scheme.
“The Centre has sent us a letter, in which they have imposed some restrictive conditions. This document has no value. It is valueless. We will return to power again and increase the number of man-days under the state-funded Karmashree scheme,” Banerjee said as she tore the paper into pieces.
She, however, said that it wasn’t the official government order which she was tearing up.
“I take this as an insult and disrespect. We don’t need your alms,” she added.
“We have lost around 118 crore (1.18 billion) man-days because of them (centre). Poor people didn’t get their wages. We have spent ₹2,700 crore to support around 5.9 million people. We don’t want your mercy. We know how to come up with alternatives. We have launched the Karmashree scheme and created more than one billion man-days,” she said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, hit back saying that Banerjee was silent on the remarks made by A Raja, DMK MP.
“Mamata Banerjee must speak up against the INDI Alliance, of which she is a part, as it continues to denigrate and defile the rich legacy of Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Is TMC’s alliance with the DMK and Congress more important than the pride of West Bengal? Shame on her,” Amit Malviya, BJP’s IT head wrote on X.
She also said that the assembly election in the state was likely to be announced immediately after the publication of the final electoral rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in February to prevent any legal challenge to the fresh voters’ list.
“They will declare elections just after the final rolls of SIR are out in February, so that nobody gets the chance to challenge the rolls legally. It will be done so that elections are held based on that list,” Banerjee claimed.
