Kolkata Gets New Bust Of Shyama Prasad Mookerjee 3 Months After Vandalism

Kolkata:  Three months after a bust of BJP icon Shyama Prasad Mookerjee was vandalized in Kolkata, the West Bengal government today installed a brand new one at the same location.

Senior leaders of the Trinamool Congress inaugurated the new bust with garlands at a park adjoining Keoratala, the city's crematorium.

In March, soon after the Left was uprooted in the Tripura Assembly elections, a statue of communist leader Lenin was pulled down by BJP supporters, triggering similar attacks on several statues across the country.

In Kolkata, some ultra-Left activists and students had entered the Keoratala Part at the crack of dawn on March 7, and taken to the Shyama Prasad Mookerjee bust with hammers and axes, damaging it badly. The face was blackened and eyes and ears of the bust were damaged.

Syama Prasad Mookerjee was the founder of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, the predecessor of the ruling BJP.

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The Trinamool government had condemned the act and said the bust would be replaced.

The replacement comes just a fortnight or so ahead of the birth anniversary of the Jan Sangh founder on July 6.