Kolkata, Dec 9 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Tuesday, challenged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to speak against the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP A. Raja, for making baseless allegations linking Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Vande Mataram’s composer and legendary Bengali writer, to past communal tensions in the state.

BJP had raised the question whether Mamata Banerjee would dare to speak against Raja, considering that both Trinamool Congress and FMK are part of the opposition Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

“Mamata Banerjee must speak up against the INDI Alliance, of which she is a part, as it continues to denigrate and defile the rich legacy of Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Is TMC’s alliance with the DMK and Congress more important than the pride of West Bengal? Shame on her,” observed BJP’s Information Technology Cell Chief and the party’s central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, in a social media statement.

Earlier, the BJP had also issued a statement accusing Raja of “irresponsibly” linking West Bengal’s communal tensions to Bankim Chandra’s writings and thus “twisting facts” in an attempt to paint him as “regressive”.

“Raja’s accusation that Bankim Chandra opposed women’s education and social reform is deeply misleading. Bankim believed real reform must arise from a renewed and awakened Hindu society, not just from superficial legislation – a difference in approach, not in values. Through his novels, Bankim Chandra introduced strong, layered, assertive female characters and consistently encouraged women’s education,” the statement issued by the BJP read.

The BJP also claimed that Mamata Banerjee should answer whether West Bengal’s pride was negotiable for power.

Incidentally, the BJP’s observations come just a couple of hours after CM Mamata, earlier in the day, criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his inadvertent reference to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay as “Bankim Da” during his speech in Parliament.

The Prime Minister immediately amended his words and said he would henceforth address Chattopadhyay as “Bankim Babu”.

–IANS

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