Picture Credit : @ANI/X
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that he has insulted novelist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay by calling him “Bankim da”.
According to media reports, The West bengal CM made these remarks while addressing a rally in Cooch Behar district, Banerjee said the PM was not even born when the country achieved Independence and yet chose to address one of Bengal’s greatest cultural icons casually.
“You did not even show him the minimum respect he deserves. You should apologise for this, to the nation,” she said.
The flashpoint was PM’s reference to the author during a discussion in Lok Sabhato commemorate 150 years of the national song, Vande Mataram, written by Chattopadhyay.
TMC MP Saugata Roy objected to the use of the suffix ‘da’ and urged the PM to say ‘Bankim babu’ instead.
Modi immediately accepted the sentiment, saying, “I will say Bankim ‘babu’. Thank you, I respect your sentiments,” and asked in a lighter vein whether he could still address Roy as ‘dada’.
Targeting the BJP, Banerjee claimed that it will destroy Bengal’s culture, language and heritage if it comes to power in the state.
She also claimed that the assembly elections in the state will be declared soon after publication of the final electoral rolls following the SIR exercise, so that no one can challenge it in court.
Meanwhile , West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee further tore up a note outlining new MGNREGA norms at a public meeting here, calling it a “valueless and insulting” diktat and vowing that the state would run its own work scheme without seeking “Delhi’s charity”.
