Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of Bengal, took part in the Rath Yatra festival organised by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Kolkata on Thursday (July 5). The move is seen as an endeavour by the chief minister to shed her image of a Muslim appeaser
Bengaluru: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee made herself available for a religious event. No, certainly, it was not related to any minority community.
The event was the Rath Yatra festival organised by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Kolkata. Mamata was also flanked by Nusrat Jahan, the new Muslim TMC MP, who has created massive waves with her non-sectarian disposition, by marrying a Hindu and proudly wearing a sindoor, in defiance of several zealots issuing a fatwa against her.
For a long time, Mamata has made a name for herself for appeasing Muslims. Be it the Durga idol immersion issue or the latest, in which she pussy-footed on action to be taken against a mob of Muslim patients who attacked a young doctor at a Kolkata hospital, she has never hesitated to show her love for a particular section of the society.
However, Didi, as the chief minister is endearingly addressed as, is forced to learn her lessons. The Lok Sabha poll 2019 was the biggest lesson that life taught her, with the BJP winning 18 seats and people openly refusing to buy her appeasement politics.
It merits mentioning here that several Muslim intellectuals hailing from the state wrote an open letter to the chief minister, asking her to punish anyone who perpetrated any crime against the society.
Keeping all these developments in mind, there is a palpable change in her attitude.
As she took part in the festival, she said, “Togetherness and tolerance for all faiths is the real religion.”
But her endeavour to be seen in Hindu festivals has not impressed the BJP one bit.
Sreenath Seshadri, a BJP spokesperson said, “It is nothing but vote-bank politics. It is very strange. Her act to impress the majority looks pretty funny. It was she who ordered that Durga idols should not be immersed. People can see through this. I don’t see she can succeed in this.”
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