On Syama Prasad death anniv, CM trains guns on TMC & Left for erasing his legacy
Times of India | 24 June 2026
Kolkata: CM Suvendu Adhikari on Monday launched a sharp attack on the Trinamool and Left govts for systematically erasing the legacy of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee even as he hailed the BJP-led state administration’s efforts to restore Bengal’s “forgotten history”.
Addressing a gathering on Dr Mookerjee’s martyrdom day (Atmabalidan Diwas), Adhikari described Mamata Banerjee’s tenure as “15 years of corrupt Jamaati rule” and claimed successive govts had deliberately sidelined the Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder’s contribution to India’s freedom movement and the preservation of West Bengal within the Indian Union.
In a speech laden with political messaging and historical references, Adhikari said the observance of Mookerjee’s death anniversary had once faced administrative hurdles under the previous dispensation.
“Earlier, this programme used to be held at Hazra. Later, the person (ex-CM Banerjee) who lost in Bhowanipore and lost to me twice ensured through a police officer that such events would not be allowed there. With great difficulty, small programmes were organised in front of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s residence in Bhowanipore. But we continued to attend them,” he said.
“Anyway, the past is past. People have given their answer. In a democracy, people have the final say. They chose the good and said ‘ta-ta, bye-bye’ to the bad,” he added.
The event came days after the state govt officially observed West Bengal Day on June 20, commemorating the June 20, 1947 vote in the Bengal Legislative Assembly that paved the way for the state’s retention within India after Partition.
Adhikari also revisited the circumstances surrounding Mookerjee’s death in Kashmir in 1953, reiterating a long-held BJP position that the circumstances remain suspicious. “He stood for one nation, one law and one flag. We believe he was removed prematurely through a conspiracy,” he said.
Projecting Mookerjee as the architect of West Bengal’s continued place within India, Adhikari referred to the June 20, 1947 Assembly vote and a Hindu Mahasammelan held at Tarakeswar in April 1947, claiming both played decisive roles in preventing large parts of Bengal from becoming part of Pakistan. “Through that historic vote, he dedicated West Bengal to India and gave us our homeland.”
Speaking at a blood donation camp at Hazra crossing after paying floral tributes at a bust of Mookerjee outside Keoratala crematorium, the CM said this was the first time that the information and cultural department and Kolkata Municipal Corporation have jointly observed “Atmabalidan Divas” on his death anniversary.
Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya also paid floral tributes to Mookerjee on the occasion.