The saffron camp claimed that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who proposed to the UNESCO that Bengal’s Durga Puja should be given a heritage tag. The BJP on Thursday took to social media claiming credit for Kolkata’s Durga Puja getting the UNESCO’s cultural heritage tag the day Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a huge rally in the city thanking the United Nations’ body for including the annual festival on the list.
The saffron camp claimed that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who proposed to the UNESCO that Bengal’s Durga Puja should be given a heritage tag.
“Mamata Banerjee is organising a rally to take credit for the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage tag for Durga Puja. The truth, however, is that she had no role in getting the award. It was because of the efforts of Sangeet Natak Akademi, an institution under the Modi government (sic),” tweeted Amit Malviya, BJP’s West Bengal affairs co-incharge.
The BJP has been sharing on various social media platforms claiming that Durga Puja in Kolkata had been nominated by the Narendra Modi government way back in 2019 for UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status. The proposal had been sent by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, which functions under the Union Ministry of Culture.
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The party said the Sangeet Natak Akademi had termed Durga Puja as the most important festival of West Bengal. Apart from Kolkata, the festival is observed in several states across India and even abroad, it added.