Trinamool, BJP try to outdo each other in show of love for state icons

NEW DELHI: As the campaign heats up in Bengal, Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are trying to outdo each other in their show of of love for the state’s iconic leaders.

The BJP has made a list of over 140 nationalist icons, many of whom it claims have been forgotten by the TMC government. Largely among those who come from a strong nationalist background.

The list includes nationalist writer and poet Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Hindu Mahasabha leader and editor Ramanand Chatterjee, revolutionary Chittaranjan Das, revolutionary freedom fighter Bagha Jatin, thinker behind the reformist Brahmo Samaj Akshay Kumar Dutta, Hindu Mahasabha leader Ashutosh Lahiri, founder of the Matua sect Pramoth Ranjan Thakur, Indian female doctor Kadambini Gangopadhyay, swadeshi lawyer Birendranath Sashmal, social worker Sarla Devi Chaudharani, poet and playwright Dwijendralal Ray, known for his nationalistic plays

“Along with material prosperity, the BJP’s vision of Shonar Bangla that looks at the revival of Bengal will have these visionaries who were rooted in Indian way of thinking in its horizons,” said Anirban Ganguly, director of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation (SPMRF), the think tank of the BJP. He added that many icons of West Bengal were deliberately marginalised by the left, and the TMC did not make an effort to understand and reinstate their legacy. “We on the other hand have systematically identified districts where these icons hailed from, starting from Syama Prasad Mookerjee to Bankim Chandra.” We have made a comprehensive list and we will have programmes in every district.”

The party has also made a list of temples and cultural sites of the state that have been badly neglected for days and plans to highlight the BJP’s plans to restore them.

Three days ago, the TMC moved fast in announcing a committee headed by Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen to plan Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s 125 birthday anniversary.

The BJP has planned events in the hometowns of leaders, starting with Murshidabad where it claims Bandra Chandra’s hometown is in a state of shambles. The TMC too has asked its leaders to talk about Bengali icons in their outreach programmes.





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