TMC MP Abishek Banerjee during a rally in Kolkata on Tuesday. (Express photo) Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday laid into the BJP on the occasion of Swami Vivekananda’s birth anniversary, saying there was no place for hate politics in West Bengal.
Banerjee said the saffron party had no right to lay claim to Vivekananda’s legacy. “West Bengal, which is the birthplace of Swami Vivekananda, has no place for hate politics imported from Gujarat. The people of Bengal and the land of Vivekananda, which is his birthplace, will reject the hate politics practised by the saffron party. The BJP has passed the Citizenship Amendment Act, according to which a person will get citizenship based on religion. Did Swamiji ever say that citizenship should be granted after determining one’s religion?” asked the Diamond Harbour MP.
Banerjee made the remarks after a five-kilometre rally organised by the Trinamool Youth Congress, which he leads, here to commemorate Vivekananda’s birth anniversary. The ruling party and its youth wing also held rallies in other other parts of the state.
Labelling the BJP “fake Ram bhakts [devotees]”, Banerjee accused it of “following the principles of Nathuram Godse, who had assassinated Mahatma Gandhi”.
He added, “They claim to be the followers of Lord Ram. They are not followers of Ram, they are the followers of Nathuram [Godse]. They are the followers of divisive politics. I do not want to politicise today’s event. But, I want to tell BJP members that Swami ji never preached hate politics and communalism, which is the basis of the saffron party.”
Accusing the Opposition party of insulting Bengal’s icons such as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the Trinamool leader said that none of them propagated pitting one religion against another.