Kolkata: ‘Jai Shri Ram’ row has intensified in West Bengal with the BJP leaders pledging to greet Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee with the slogan every time.
Hindu-Muslim issue is nothing new in Bengal politics. While the BJP alleges that Mamata always indulges in appeasement politics, the TMC supremo fights back calling BJP communal.
In a fresh controversy over the slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’, the Chief Minister refused to speak at an event to celebrate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary following this chant.
Countering this, BJP leader and former TMC mayor of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday said the BJP will send all those who refuse to say ‘Jai Shri Ram’ to Pakistan. “India is the land of Hindus. We say Jai Hind and Jai Shri Ram. Those opposing these chants will be sent to Pakistan,” said the ‘turncoat’ leader.
Speaking in the same line, another defector to BJP Suvendu Adhikari claimed that every Hindu should feel proud while taking the name of Ram and the BJP will win 14 out of 17 Assembly seats at Nandigram.
On the other hand, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee dared BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to say ‘Jai Shri Ram’ instead of ‘Jai Hind’ while hoisting the National Flag at the Red Fort on Independence Day. “The BJP is trying to make ‘Jai Shri Ram’ a government slogan. They should chant the same while unfurling the National Flag on Independence Day,” said the TMC MP.
It may be noted that seven persons were detained near Bhatpara of North 24 Paraganas just after the results of parliamentary election in 2019 as some people blocked the Chief Minister’s convoy and chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
In a video which went viral on social media had shown that on hearing the chant, the TMC supremo lost her cool, came out of her car and asked her security officials to note down the name of the people.
West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh claimed that he will chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ every time he meets the Chief Minister. “It is really astonishing that Mamata Banerjee gets upset on hearing this chant. Not just me, but every BJP leader will greet her with ‘Jai Shri Ram’ wherever she goes,” claimed Ghosh.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister was seen taking part in a tea party at Governor’s House with Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on the Republic Day.
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