West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the BJP and Governor C V Ananda Bose of using the "State Foundation Day" for political purposes and promoting a narrative favoured by the saffron camp.
Banerjee’s comment comes a day after a strongly worded letter to Bose expressing her reservations to observing the state's foundation day.
"I was born in this Bengal, just like others. We have spent our entire life in this state, but never heard about any 'State Foundation Day'. Nothing of this sort has ever been celebrated in our history, nor has any Act passed by the assembly," she told reporters at state secretariat Nabanna.
Bose, who organised the state's 'Foundation Day' programme at the Raj Bhavan despite objections by Banerjee, said the state government's concern would be "treated with all seriousness."
Banerjee said the BJP should be aware that other parties will not abide by the saffron camp's decision on when to celebrate the state's ‘foundation day’.
"The BJP is mistaken if they believe that whatever they decide to celebrate, the other parties must agree. I have already written to the Governor regarding this. I believe one should not play politics with the chair of the Governor of Bengal. They are trying to push a narrative for political reasons," she said.
Condemning the "new practice", the feisty TMC boss said this is being done solely to defame the state.
"It is being done to defame the soil of Bengal and insult its people. What sort of 'Foundation Day' are you celebrating if the state's people do not know about it? It is not only us who are objecting to this celebration; even the Left Front and Congress are unaware of this so-called foundation day," she said.
The TMC boss wondered why the BJP-led central government is sitting on the decision passed in the West Bengal assembly to rename the state when they are keen on observing its foundation day.
Meanwhile, the BJP legislative party led by Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari took out a rally from the assembly to Red Road commemorating the state's foundation day.
"What is wrong in observing the state's foundation day? Does the state government want us and future generations to forget history? The Trinamool government behaves as if West Bengal is not a state but an independent country," he said.
In a letter to Bose on Monday, Banerjee had expressed "shock" at his "unilateral" decision to commemorate the state's foundation day.
Banerjee pointed out that the pain and trauma of partition was such that people in the state have never commemorated any day as foundation day since India's independence.
On June 20, 1947, two meetings of separate sets of legislators in the Bengal Assembly were held. One of those who wanted West Bengal as part of India voted in favour of the resolution by a majority. The others were legislators of areas which eventually became East Pakistan.
For the district of Sylhet, which was part of Assam, it was decided to conduct a referendum.
Nearly 2.5 million people were displaced from both sides, and properties worth crores of rupees were burnt down in post-partition rioting.
The British Parliament passed the India Independence Act on July 15, 1947, without any clarity on the borders of the two states being torn apart - Bengal and Punjab.
-With PTI Input
