The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday accused the BJP of producing fake news items and described saffron party leaders visiting West Bengal from outside the state as “tourists” who have no idea of its heritage and language.
Senior TMC MP and party spokesperson Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar also charged the BJP with seeking to cling to power by “killing people, instigating riots and dividing people”. “They (BJP) are flush with cash. They have deployed some youngsters in a big building to churn out one fake news after another,” she said.
Referring to certain videos and news items being circulated on social media, Ghosh Dastidar described them as “fake news produced from the factory of the BJP”.
She alleged that the saffron party is bringing in leaders from outside the state who utter “wrong Bengali words with distorted accent. In West Bengal, the BJP has turned into a party of tourists.”
These “visitors” are ignorant of the heritage and traditions of West Bengal as they sit on the chair of icons like Rabindranath Tagore and place their own photo above that of the Nobel laureate poet in festoons, she alleged.
Ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to Bolpur close to Santiniketan, which is famous as the Rabindranath Tagore's abode for long years, in December, hoardings with his picture above that of the bard in the same frame appeared in the town causing outrage. The hoardings were later removed.
“Tagore had composed the song, 'Amar Sonar Bangla' (My Golden Bengal). The BJP is also promising to make a sonar Bangla (after coming to power in the state). But these people are insulting the state and its people by distorting Bengali words by pronouncing them incorrectly.
“They have no idea about the sacrifice of thousands of Bengalis for the language. They only know how to vandalise the bust of Vidyasagar and sit on the chair used by Tagore,” Ghosh Dastidar said.
A bust of the iconic social reformer was desecrated in a college in Kolkata during Amit Shah's roadshow in May 2019. The TMC alleged that BJP activists were behind the incident.
Shah had also visited Visva-Bharati university in December and went to the Rabindra Bhavan, a museum, and the Upasana Griha (the prayer hall) and other buildings on the campus.
There were reports on social media that Shah had sat on Tagore's chair during the visit. However, it was not confirmed by the university
authorities. Stating that several BJP leaders from outside Bengal are visiting North 24 Parganas district in which her constituency Barasat is located, Ghosh Dastidar said, “They may not be aware that a revolutionary like Titumir was born on the soil of district, they don't know Bengal.”