Kolkata: A controversy has broken out in West Bengal following the installation of a Chief Minister’s idol alongside that of Goddess Durga at the organizers’ marquee, causing the opposition BJP to label the move ‘nauseating’ and an insult to Hindu sensibilities in the state.
Mintu Pal, the famous clay modeller, is casting the fibreglass idol in his Kumartuli studio, donning the ‘deity’ in the TMC supremo’s favourite white saree and her trademark flip-flop slippers as well. ‘I have studied photos and videos of honourable CM as reference point. The way she walks, speaks, interacts with the public, while moulding the face of the idol,’ Pal told PTI on Friday.
Instead of holding weapons, the deity’s ten hands will depict projects such as Kanyashree, Swastha Sathi, Rupashree, Sabujsathi, Lakshmir Bhandar and others. According to him, the organizers want to tell people about the various universally acclaimed development projects launched by the government.
Read also: Sidharth Shukla cremated amid heavy rainfall, family and fans bid a tearful goodbye
However, the BJP is not amused. ‘This deification of Mamata Banerjee, who has blood of innocent Bengalis on her hand, following the gruesome post-poll violence in Bengal, is nauseating. This is an insult to goddess Durga. Mamata Banerjee must stop this. She is hurting the sensibilities of Hindus of Bengal,’ tweeted the party’s IT department head Amit Malviya.
Suvendu Adhikari, Banerjee’s nemesis in Nandigram, also saw red. ‘When someone tries to elevate you to God’s stature only to please you & your silence indicates consent, it means your ego has reached a point where conscience can’t hold it accountable,’ he wrote on the microblogging website.
An image of Durga and her descendants will be set next to the fibreglass idol. ‘The entire pandal will be themed on Lakshmir Bhandar,’ says the organizer of the puja, the Unnayan Samithi Club in Keshtopur, in the city’s northern districts. In Lakshmir Bhandar, the government offers monthly assistance to female heads of households ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000.
Bhawanipore 75 Pally puja committee members have adopted the theme ‘Ghorer Meye’ (daughter of the house) to toast Banerjee’s return to power for a third successive term, Subrata Das, an official with the committee said. ‘Mamata Banerjee is the Ghorer Meye of Bhawanipore. Many hoardings hailing her as Bhawanipore’s daughter have come up here in the last two months,’ he said.
Banerjee lives in her private house in Bhawanipore and represented the constituency in the past. In the wake of her defeat in Nandigram, the fiery leader is likely to run from Bhawanipore once more.
Post Your Comments