West Bengal: BJP accuses TMCP leader of attempting to burn photos of Rabindranath Tagore, Narendra Modi, Amit Shah

KOLKATA: The BJP on Sunday alleged that a Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) leader at Chanchol College in Malda tried to set fire to photographs of Rabindranath Tagore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah. According to news agency PTI, Union minister Sukanta Majumdar and the BJP’s Bengal unit posted on X a video purportedly showing the college unit president attempting to ignite the pictures during a protest against alleged atrocities on Bengalis in BJP-ruled states.

PTI, however, could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage. "Such barbarism and audacity lowers the head of entire Bengali society, hurts the sensibilities of every Indian," Majumdar said. He accused chief minister Mamata Banerjee of staging a "hypocritic fake drama in the name of language movement," adding that any attempt to burn Tagore’s image was “akin to betrayal of the culture of Bengalis and hurting the sentiment Bengali 'Asmita' (pride).”

He urged the police and administration to act against those responsible. In a separate post, the BJP named Malda Chanchol TMCP leader AB Soyel as the “main conspirator,” branding TMCP leaders "anti-national" and "anti-Bengal" for allegedly trying to torch photographs of national leaders and Tagore, whom it described as a cultural icon for both Bengal and India. TMC leaders dismissed the allegations. Chanchol MLA Nihar Ranjan Ghosh said, “Faced with internal bickerings within their own party, the BJP is trying to divert public attention with such baseless allegations. The BJP cannot lecture us on the glory and cultural heritage of Bengal. Tagore is in our breath, in our blood, in our very existence.” A senior TMCP functionary said district president Prasun Roy has issued a show-cause notice to the student leader seeking an explanation of what transpired at the protest.