In the run-up to the West Bengal Assembly elections slated for March-April next year, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the principal Opposition BJP are caught in a new conflict, this time over two of the state’s cultural icons – Rabindranath Tagore and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
While the BJP dispensation is celebrating 150 years of the national song Vande Mataram, written by Chattopadhyay, the TMC has alleged that the BJP has insulted Tagore, who composed the national anthem Jana Gana Mana.
A controversy erupted when Karnataka BJP leader Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, during an event marking 150 years of Vande Mataram, remarked that it should have been the national anthem. Kageri suggested that Jana Gana Mana was written as a welcome song for British officials, though he later retracted the statement after widespread criticism. The TMC hit out, saying it was an insult to the Nobel laureate.
The BJP, on the other hand, accused the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC of downplaying the Vande Mataram celebrations. On the same day that the BJP announced a year-long celebration of Vande Mataram, the West Bengal government declared that all state-run and government-aided schools would sing the state song Banglar Mati, Banglar Jol, written by Tagore.
On Friday, as the entire country — including BJP MPs, MLAs, and leaders in Bengal — celebrated Vande Mataram, the TMC paid floral tribute to Tagore. State Education Minister Bratya Basu told the media, “The BJP practises divisive politics — between Hindus and Muslims, Brahmins and Dalits — and now they are trying to create a rift between two great Bengalis, Rabindranath Tagore and Bankim Chandra. The BJP prefers Bankim Chandra because Tagore spoke of Hindu-Muslim unity, and leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Subhas Chandra Bose respected him deeply.”
While the BJP alleged that the TMC’s stance was “appeasement politics”, the TMC refuted the claim, stating that the state government had already formed a committee to honour Chattopadhyay.
On Saturday, BJP MP and Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar slammed the TMC. “Whenever Mamata Banerjee faces a political crisis, she remembers Bengali ‘asmita (pride)’. This is only for show. Vande Mataram is a political song, and we are protesting.”
Meanwhile, the TMC organised a rally at Jorasanko Thakur Bari, Tagore’s ancestral home in north Kolkata, to pay tribute to him, followed by a protest rally. State Minister Sashi Panja said, “We are all hurt by the BJP’s insult to Bengal’s icons. Here, at Tagore’s abode, we draw our inspiration and courage — our culture and life revolve around him. Our protest is against this insult. Bengal is a mini-India where people of all castes, creed, and religions live peacefully. Why divide us? Tagore’s works are translated across languages; he lives in our hearts.”