Abhishek Banerjee on Friday mounted a scathing offensive on Amit Shah, who spent the day in the city, over the saffron camp’s alleged disregard of Bengal and its icons, on the 205th birth anniversary of Renaissance giant Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, putting salt to an old but ever-smarting wound of the BJP from the summer of 2019.
With the clear intent to embarrass the Union home minister and his party, the Trinamool Congress national general secretary visited the Vidyasagar College in north Calcutta to pay respects to the bust of the 19th-century reformer-educator that had been smashed at the tail-end of a Shah road-show in Calcutta on May 14, 2019, ahead of the last leg of the Lok Sabha polls.
“I don’t want to make this a political event. The reason we have come here today is not because of politics. But since you all have asked, we cannot ignore the incident that occurred here in 2019 and at whose behest,” said Abhishek at the college, during an interaction with journalists.
“Those who came from outside, force north Indian culture upon us, those who broke Vidyasagar’s statue, the people of Bengal gave a befitting response to them,” said chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, after lauding the foremost proponent — born on September 26, 1820 — of the Bengal Renaissance.
Mamata, in a lengthy tribute to Vidyasagar on X, also added to the BJP’s
embarrassment.
Mamata wrote: “His thoughts and indomitable courage form the foundation of today’s modern Bengal. In this Bengal, those who do not believe in Vidyasagar’s ideal of secular humanism, those who desecrate his statue in the heart of Calcutta on his bicentennial, those who constantly insult the Bengali language and culture — there is no place for them.”
“The statue that the BJP had broken, we have restored it at Vidyasagar College in Calcutta…,” she added.
With the last phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls remaining at the time, the BJP had not done a great deal to address the issue then, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking two days to end his silence on the matter.
However, as the results emerged, it was seen that the BJP, despite winning 18 seats, had been handed a drubbing in only the final phase of the polls in Bengal. Since those results, the BJP has often been seen tripping over itself in paying homage to the icon.
Shah paid tribute to Vidyasagar during his speech while inaugurating the Santosh Mitra Square Durga Puja pandal and offered floral tributes to the icon at the Durga Puja at EZCC in Salt Lake.
“None can forget his contribution not only to Bengal but also to the country, at a time when India was still under British rule. Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar devoted his life to the Bengali language, Bengali culture, Bengali grammar, and women’s education. Today, on the occasion of his birth anniversary, from the core of my heart and on behalf of crores of BJP workers, I pay tribute to the great social reformer,” Shah said at Santosh Mitra Square.
Abhishek, however, did a calculation of the distance between Vidyasagar College and Santosh Mitra Square to question Shah for not garlanding Vidyasagar’s bust at the institution named after the polymath.
“I felt deeply saddened that someone who came to inaugurate a puja pandal just 10 minutes away (Santosh Mitra Square) was not even aware that today is the 205th birth anniversary of Vidyasagar. He did not have the courtesy to visit Vidyasagar’s house or Vidyasagar College to pay his respects.”
Smashed to pieces by suspected BJP supporters on May 14, 2019, the Vidyasagar bust appears to have brought to the fore a culture clash that has marked the BJP’s foray into Bengal.
“Our political battles will continue, but the way they insult Bengal’s stalwarts cannot be forgotten,” said Abhishek, referring to the ever-growing list of Bengal luminaries that the BJP stands accused of having disrespected in recent memory.
“First, they should apologise standing before Vidyasagar’s statue...,” added the Diamond Harbour MP.
The BJP’s Bengal leadership pleaded that Trinamool was deliberately trying to politicise the issue involving the Shah road show from six years ago, and the bust vandalism to gain political dividends ahead of the Assembly polls.
“Trinamool has no right to speak about Vidyasagar, who had dedicated his life to education, while the ruling dispensation in Bengal has ruined the education system. They are deliberately trying to politicise the issue. They should know that Amit Shahji had offered floral tributes to Vidyasagar’s photograph and also paid homage during his speech,” said BJP spokesperson Debjit Sarkar.
Prayer for Bengal
Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday said that he prayed to goddess Durga for a government that would restore the lost glory of “Sonar Bangla (Golden Bengal)” after the 2026 Assembly polls.
“I prayed to the goddess that after the 2026 elections, a government should be formed that can build a Sonar Bangla ... We should be able to build the Bengal envisioned by Gurudev (Rabindranath) Tagore,” Shah said at Santosh Mitra Square.
After inaugurating the Puja organised by BJP leader Sajal Ghosh at Santosh Mitra Square, Shah went to Kalighat to offer prayers to goddess Kali.
The BJP alleged that Trinamool had removed multiple flex banners welcoming Shah from the streets near the Kalighat temple and replaced them with those of Mamata Banerjee.
Trinamool denied the allegation.