The 25th day of Baisakh as per the Hindu calendar holds special significance in West Bengal, where it’s celebrated as an annual cultural festival in remembrance of the birth anniversary of the great Indian poet, novelist and scholar, Rabindranath Tagore. The Rabindra Jayanti or the ’25 se Baisakh’, as Bengalises call it, is being observed on May 9 this year.
This year, Union Minister Amit Shah is in West Bengal on ’25 se Baisakh’ to celebrate ‘Gurudev’ Tagore’s birthday. Shah’s timely visit is seen as a strategic move by BJP, which is trying to find its cultural string with Bengal
Shah, who reached Kolkata last night, plans to visit house Tagore’s birthplace Jorasanko Thakur Bari in the morning. He will also be participating in a cultural programme on the occasion of Rabindra Jayanti in the evening.
As per experts, the biggest hindrance of the BJP in Bengal is that they are projected as “bahari” or the outsiders by TMC.
BJP is projected by TMC in a way that they know nothing about Bengal’s culture and if they become the dominant party in the state, then Bengal’s culture will get a Hindi touch which will ultimately be a concern for Bengalis, they said.
Insiders in the BJP said that the saffron party follows ‘nationalist idealism’ and Gurudev is for all.
“Bengal BJP also respects Gurudev in every aspect, but the fact that Amit Shah himself is coming to celebrate his birthday is very significant,” said an insider.
Shah is also supposed to visit Border Security Force (BSF) manned Integrated Check Post (ICP) in Petrapole, North 24-Parganas, today, but its alignment with Rabindra Jayanti holds greater political significance.
The Trinamool Congress reacted strongly to Shah’s timely visit.
“They (BJP) are just doing politics with Rabindranath. They are trying to remove Amartya Sen, a Nobel laureate from Shantiniketan and they are now trying to show that they have regard for Gurudev. They should first apologise and then give garland,” said TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said on Amit Shah’s visit.
BJP on the other hand is upbeat about Shah’s visit and his affection for Tagore. Tagore is a very big emotional quotient of Bengal. Every year Mamata Banerjee and her government celebrate Tagore’s birthday. She will do it this time too, but will Shah’s visit woo Bangali voters is to be seen?
Read all the Latest Politics News and Karnataka Elections 2023 updates here
Comments
0 comment