A senior leader of the Mamata Banerjee’s Party Trinamool Congress today organised a massive “Brahmin and Purohit Sammelan” (a Brahmin convention) in Bolpur town of Birbhum district, a move seen by the opposition BJP to arrest consolidation of Hindu votes in favour of the saffron party.
The day-long sammelan is being organised by the party’s Birbhum district president, Anubrata Mondal, in his home district.
Mondal said the convention aims to highlight “misinterpretations” of the Hindu religion made by the BJP and discuss what the Hindu religion stands for. “The Hindu religion is being misinterpreted by the BJP. Today we will discuss the real meaning of Hindu religion,” Mondol told reporters.
A source in the ruling party said around 12,000-14,000 Hindu priests are attending the meet that started around 12.30 pm today.
The priests will be felicitated with a copy of the Gita, shawl, and pictures of Sarada Maa and Ramakrishna, he said.
The saffron party has accused the Trinamool Congress leadership of practicing “soft Hindutva” to stop the Hindu voters from uniting under the BJP.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s recent visit to Sagar Island to take stock of arrangements for the January 14 Makar Sankranti festival also came under attack from the saffron party.
“The so-called secular leaders are practicing Hindutva because they are well aware that Hindus are uniting under the BJP. They have realised that they will no longer be able to win elections by appeasing Muslims,” BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said.
