TMC leaders at Vivekananda’s ancestral home in Kolkata. (Express photo) LEADERS OF the BJP and the TMC on Tuesday made a beeline for Swami Vivekananda’s ancestral home in north Kolkata to mark his 158th birth anniversary, in the run-up to the Assembly polls.
Without using party flags, BJP leaders Dilip Ghosh, Mukul Roy, Rahul Sinha and others led a colourful rally from Shyambazar to Vivekananda’s ancestral house at Simla Street.
West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said the path shown by Swami Vivekananda is the guiding light for the youth.
“We should imbibe his ideals and follow in his footsteps for ushering in a better tomorrow,” he said.
Holding posters of Vivekananda, festoons and balloons, BJP workers walked down the streets of north Kolkata on this occasion.
Earlier in the day, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and party leader Suvendu Adhikari garlanded the statue of Swami Vivekananda at his north Kolkata residence.
Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay and state minister Shashi Panja also paid floral tributes to him whose birth anniversary is celebrated as National Youth Day.
A towering spiritual philosopher, Vivekananda was born in 1863 in Kolkata and is credited with popularising Vedantic ideas.
Taking to Twitter, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who also visited Swamiji’s ancestral house during the day to pay tributes, wrote, “Youth empowerment is key to Bharat becoming Vishwa Guru (world leader).”
Paying tributes to Vivekananda, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, “His message of peace and universal brotherhood is of utmost relevance today and inspires all of us to strive hard in safeguarding these ideals in our beloved nation.” TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee also visited the ancestral house of Swamiji.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha, said the spirit that the great saint imparted to the world is eternal. “The solution of all human problems lies in his noble and divine thoughts,” Chowdhury tweeted.