BJP caught on wrong foot after image collage goof-up
Times of India | 14 April 2025
12 Kolkata: Bengal BJP was caught on the wrong foot on Sunday after police called out a collage of nine photographs on their X handle claiming Hindu festivals were being targeted in the state. The photographs, it appears, were sourced from events in other states. Incidentally, BJP is in office in some of these states. The post was also shared by Bengal BJP president and Union minister Sukanta Majumdar. None of them had been taken down at the time of filing of this report.
Expressing his dismay, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale said: "It is incredibly disturbing to see the kind of fake communal narrative that BJP is putting out in Bengal right now. I just saw a tweet on their official handle which takes pictures from different parts of India, and they are trying to show these pictures of conflict as if these are photos from conflict happening in West Bengal."
Sources said the images being circulated originated from across India, including anti-CAA protests in Lucknow, a house fire in Jalandhar and unrelated incidents in Karnataka, UP and Assam. Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: "BJP is spreading disinformation and attributing some photos to the Murshidabad unrest whereas the reality is far from it."
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose said: "Bengal govt is clear no one will be allowed to take law into their hands and violence will be met with strict punishment, irrespective of community or religious identity of the perpetrators. It is BJP which is flooding the internet with fake photos and fake videos of violence and arson and passing it off as if this is all happening in Bengal. This is BJP's campaign of lies, communal polarisation and politics of incitement."
"My only appeal to BJP is if you have a valid political narrative to fight us, fight us on that. But please stop promoting communal disharmony in Bengal, please stop trying to light Bengal on fire," Gokhale urged.
Bengal BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya, however, responded: "Can they deny what is being shown on television? Can they deny that two persons were killed? Which incident do they want to deny? The fact is govt is uneasy as the truth is out now. Trinamool netas are trying to term selective attacks on communities as riots. They are issuing provocative statements and fomenting violence."
Agnimitra Paul, Bengal BJP general secretary, said: "There are laws to prevent such acts and Trinamool should move court instead of issuing statements."