With political temperature in Bengal beginning to soar ahead of next year’s Assembly elections Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday hit out at Central Government-controlled Viswa Bharati University for not inviting her in its centenary celebrations in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a virtual speech.
The Prime Minister’s speech too wasn’t free from factual errors, her Trinamool Congress said. The TMC had earlier slammed the BJP for putting Home Minister Amit Shah’s pictures above that of Poet Laureate Rabindranath Tagore during his Bolpur rally.
“Today is the foundation day of the Viswa Bharati but there was no telephone call, no invitation from that side … There was a phone call saying they wanted to meet me … they asked whether I could visit the University any time soon… this is not an invite … still I must congratulate all those who attended the programme,” the Chief Minister said.
“I don’t mind anything because those who have joined the meeting today are mostly religious bigots … their term is of temporary nature, they are there for very few days … their days are numbered,” Banerjee who announced a huge investment of Rs 15,000 crore in East Midnapore district said.
Slamming her detractors she said “there are people who keep on humiliating me and attacking me every time thinking that this lady does not react because she is sure that ultimately she will win (the elections) … today things have reached such a pass that apart from humiliating me they have started humiliating the icons of Bengal.”
However, refuting the charges brought by the Chief Minister, Bengal BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya said “the Chief Minister’s absence from the programme was unfortunate … such things should be kept out of politics … today Bengal’s honour was lowered before the entire nation.”
Earlier State Minister and dramatist Bratya Basus too alleged that the Chief Minister could not join the show as she was not invited. “Mamata Banerjee did not receive any invitation for the centenary meet of Visva Bharati,” he said adding, “even if the invitation, as you suggest, was sent last night, should that be the decorum? After all, she (Ms Banerjee) is the Chief Minister of a State.”
On the alleged factual errors in the Prime Minister’s speech he said in his address Modi put down Bengali culture and tradition by confining Tagore to Gujarat.
“Why one should restrict Rabindranath Tagore to Gujarat? He said Satyen Tagore’s wife (Rabindranath Tagore's sister-in-law) learnt how to drape sarees in a certain fashion from Gujarati women. The fact is that she learnt it from the Gujaratis as well the Parsis. But the Prime Minister wouldn't mention Parsis,” Mr Basu said.
He also said that “Tagore’s brother who was in Gujarat was not the eldest sibling. His wife’s name was Gyanadanandini and not what Modi said. The story about Gyanadanandini and the sari pallu is a myth, not true,” he said.
He also questioned the reason behind the Prime Minister not mentioning Calcutta University while taking the names of Delhi and Lahore Universities in the same breadth.
“The PM also spoke about the varsities of Delhi and Lahore during his address, but failed to make a mention of Calcutta University, which played an important part in the country's freedom movement,” Basu a noted dramatist said.
Faulting the Prime Minister for his wrong interpretation of the Poet Laureate he said how Tagore’s philosophy had gone beyond nationalism to internationalism and humanism. He said “Tagore was of the opinion that nationalism was a divisive idea,” adding Tagore’s famous novel Gora was not about divisive religion.
Meanwhile in a parallel development, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday iterated the BJP was coming to power in Bengal with a forceful majority.
Addressing a massive rally at his home town Contai in East Midnapore he said “the overwhelming presence of the crowd here only shows that
“Didi is going and a new era of nationalism is coming to Bengal.” The rally was so big that it took three hours to cover a distance of 5 km.
Picking up from where Home Minister Amit Shah left last Sunday at Bolpur Adhikari said promised to win all the 35 seats from East and West Midnapore for the BJP.
“The rule of Bhaipo (nephew) is over, the rule of the coal, cow and stone mafia is over … the people will throw them out because if they return to power they will not turn into a kidney mafia,” Adhikari said in an apparent reference to TMC MP and the Chief Minister’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee.