Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) accused Wednesday the BJP of producing fake news items. The Trinamool Congress 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 fake news one after the other,” she said.
Ghosh Dastidar alleged that the saffron party is bringing in leaders from West Bengal 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. 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 in December, hoardings with his picture above that of the bard in the same frame appeared in the town. 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.
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.
The senior TMC leader described the BJP as a comparatively young and comparatively inexperienced party to have come to power at the Centre.
“In its six years in power, the BJP has devastated the economy and circumvented the rule of law. They want to cling to power at any cost – by killing people, instigating riots, dividing people,” alleged Ghsoh Dastidar.
