KOLKATA: After violent clashes between Trinamool Congress and BJP cadres during the saffron party’s statewide motorbike rally on 155th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda on January 12 left 14 BJP workers injured, the two parties are poised to slug it out again on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s birthday on Tuesday.
While the ruling party has brought out circular asking party workers to celebrate Netaji’s birthday at booth-levels and directed them to organise blood donation camps, free distribution of clothes and cultural programmes, the saffron party is slated to bring out another motorbike rally in Kolkata on Tuesday.
While TMC claims that the BJP is appropriating the icons of Bengal, the saffron party is hailing both the icons as symbols of patriotism and Swami Vivekananda as the person who brought Hinduism to the international stage by his Chicago speech.
West Bengal chief minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had recently written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that birthdays of both the icons be declared as national holidays.
According to education minister Partha Chatterjee, the BJP is using Swamiji and Netaji to create religious rift in West Bengal and is disrespecting the two icons by bringing out extravagant motorbike rallies as a show of strength.
The BJP motorbike rally on Tuesday would commence from 9.30 am onward from Bharatiya Factory at Ballygunge Place area to the residence of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at Elgin road. Police deployment would be high along the route to prevent a repeat of the violence that was witnessed on January 12.