With Durga Puja just about a month away, almost nothing in West Bengal is untouched by the festival’s influence these days. And that’s also true for the Bhabanipur assembly bypoll to be held on September 30 where chief minister Mamata Banerjee is a contestant. The Trinamool Congress chairperson needs the win as she lost the Nandigram seat in the April-May state elections to her former aide and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Suvendu Adhikari. On Wednesday morning, the TMC and a number of its leaders sent out a tweet targeting the BJP.
The self-proclaimed custodians of Hindu culture & values clearly DO NOT understand Hinduism, forget about respecting Hindu festivals! Now, their scant regard for Maa Durga and the traditions of Bengal stands exposed!This is an act of utter shame @BJP4Bengal! #BJPInsultsMaaDurga
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) September 8, 2021
So what led to this tweet?
On Tuesday, the BJP complained to the Election Commission that Mamata Banerjee had violated the model code of conduct for polls as her West Bengal government declared a grant of Rs 50,000 each to all 36,000 Durga Puja clubs in the state. The party alleged that the announcement, which has actually become an annual affair for the ruling TMC, was made to influence the electoral process.
Trinamool supporters said that until last year the BJP would accuse the party of impeding Durga Puja celebrations and try to stoke communal politics.
The TMC is now attempting to turn the tables, say analysts, by alleging that its political rival is trying to stop the state government from supporting Durga Puja celebrations. A number of leaders from the ruling party tweeted with #BJPInsultsMaaDurga. One of them was Trinamool MP Prasun Banerjee.
If @BJP4Bengal had the slightest respect for the sentiments of the people of #Bengal, they wouldn’t have dared to commit such an act! This is outrageous and hurts the sentiments of Bengalis & Hindus across the state.Shame on BJP! #BJPInsultsMaaDurga
— Prasun Banerjee (@MP_AITMC) September 8, 2021
The BJP, not surprisingly, is rejecting this line of argument and would like to focus on the alleged corrupt practices of the ruling party.
“Mamata Banerjee using government money for this has violated the code of conduct and that is legally wrong,” the BJP’s Lok Sabha lawmaker Arjun Singh told News18. “The way they campaigned in the assembly polls that the BJP is an ‘outsider’ and they are the ‘insiders’…and they are now trying to make the puja an issue. They are trying to portray that we are against Durga Puja. Every member of the BJP worships and respects Ma Durga. If she (Mamata) has so much love for Ma, why is her party not giving its looted money to the clubs? Why are they using government money? People understand everything and this will have no effect.”
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