Published 10:19 IST, December 11th 2020
BJP accuses Mamata & Nusrat Jahan of lying about JP Nadda's Tagore quote; row breaks out
BJP slammed Mamata Banerjee & TMC MP Nusrat Jahan for claiming that BJP chief JP Nadda has said that Vishwa Bharti is on Rabindranath Tagore's birthplace.
As BJP chief JP Nadda is on a visit to West Bengal, the ruling Trinamool is leaving no opportunity to target him. Amid attack on Nadda's convoy and BJP's allegations that there were security lapses, TMC has targeted the BJP chief over his statement on Rabindranath Tagore. Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool claimed that Nadda has said that Tagore was born in Vishwa Bharti. Terming it as 'lie' and 'false information', Trinamool taunted Nadda by saying that 'foreigners' should learn about the history of Bengal, they also shared a screenshot of BJP's Twitter handle saying the same.
Mamata Banerjee also slammed Nadda, “Those who can come up with such gigantic lies about even Rabindranath Tagore, what do you expect them to do about you and me? They have shamed Bengal…. I appeal to all lovers of Bengal’s civilisation, culture… members of the civil society, everyone… protest, resist, roar,” she said.
However, BJP lashed out at Trinamool and its MP Nusrat Jahan and slammed them for spreading false information. BJP clarified by posting a video of Nadda's speech and said that what he had meant was that Tagore was born in West Bengal. Nadda had invoked Tagore in his speech and said, "Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, today the head is down and the people of Bengal are full of fear". Nobel laureate Tagore was born in Jorasanko (now in Bangladesh) in 1861 and he had founded Visva Bharati in 1921.
BJP convoy attacked in West Bengal
Alleged TMC supporters threw stones and bricks at the BJP chief's convoy when he was on the way to Diamond Harbour to address a meeting of party workers. While Nadda claimed he escaped unhurt as he was travelling in a bulletproof car, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya's car was ransacked, resulting in him getting injured. Other party leaders including state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh, national joint general secretary (organisation) Shiv Prakash and secretary Anupam Hazra too received injuries.
Incidentally, the WB CM's nephew Abhishek Banerjee represents the Diamond Harbour constituency in the Lok Sabha. Speaking to the media, Ghosh stated, "When we were on our way to Diamond Harbour, TMC supporters blocked the road and pelted Naddaji's vehicle and other cars in the convoy with stones. This only shows the true colour of the TMC".
Updated 10:19 IST, December 11th 2020