New Delhi, May 9 Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday reacted strongly to Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghosh's accusation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmakers being absent on the occasion of paying tributes to the celebrated poet Rabindranath Tagore on his birth anniversary.
“Not a single sitting @BJP4India MP present today at the floral tribute ceremony in Parliament on the birth anniversary of Kaviguru #RabindranathTagore. No Speaker of Lok Sabha present either. For @BJP4India grabbing power in Bengal matters more than Bengal. Tagore is only an election weapon for @narendramodi -@AmitShah. For @AITCofficial Bengal remains our eternal beloved motherland and Gurudev our pathfinder, our sage. Joy Bangla,” Ghosh posted on her social media X handle.
It accompanied a photo of her standing with folded hands in front of Tagore’s painting decked in flowers.
“You may be a new MP but you are not ignorant at all about the Parliamentary practices. When Parliament is not in session, any MP who is present in Delhi may pay floral tributes to the iconic personalities on their anniversaries at Samvidhan Sadan, otherwise MPs can pay tributes at any convenient location. Parliament officials and some BJP Ex-MPs were present today at Samvidhan Sadan. Politics 24×7 is toxic. We didn't do politics by questioning the absence of Congress & TMC Members,” replied Rijiju on the same platform.
The famous bard's birth anniversary has turned into a political slugfest with BJP’s new Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and some of his cabinet colleagues taking oath of office and secrecy on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, other cabinet and party colleagues, along with Chief Ministers of 20 states ruled by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) attended the grand event organised in central Kolkata.
In fact, it was the first time that the event was held at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground with a Prime Minister in attendance. Tagore’s birthday was celebrated on Saturday according to the Bengali calendar on the 25th day of the year’s first month of Boisakh.
Trinamool social media handles had been posting messages insinuating BJP’s hand in stalling celebrations to mark the occasion even before the swearing-in event took place.
"Bengal administration DENIES PERMISSION TO HOLD RABINDRA JAYANTI CELEBRATIONS. Yes, you read that right, this is the New Bengal. This is the great 'Poriborton'. Permissions were sought for 3 different locations by non-political organisations - ALL DENIED. Hence, we will continue to hold the celebrations honouring Kobiguru Rabindranath Tagore in the area adjoining our Hon'ble Chairperson's residence,” announced the party’s official ‘X’ handle on Friday, adding, “@BJP4Bengal, mark our words - YOU CANNOT RIP OUT KOBIGURU RABINDRANATH TAGORE FROM OUR HEART & SOUL.” However, celebrations were not only held at Mamata Banerjee’s residence or its vicinity but at a few other neighbourhoods of Kolkata as well.
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