Amid a flurry of back-to-back rallies, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appears to have exhausted her mind as she made a mix-up of historical facts and confused Rabindranath Tagore with Mahatma Gandhi, giving the Opposition BJP fresh ammo to target the ruling TMC.
During a recent rally speech, Mamata Banerjee purportedly claimed that Mahatma Gandhi returned his knighthood in protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by the British.
However, according to historical facts, it was Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore who renounced his knighthood in 1919 following the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
The BJP was quick to highlight the gaffe made by CM Banerjee, with party leader Amit Malviya alleging that those leading Bengal can’t get the most iconic history of the state right.
“Mamata Banerjee claims that Gandhi ji returned his knighthood in protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Basic history says otherwise. It was Shri Rabindranath Tagore who renounced his knighthood in 1919 as a mark of protest against the brutality at Jallianwala Bagh,” Malviya wrote on X, along with the purported video of Banerjee’s speech.
The BJP leader further asserted that facts matter, especially when “those claiming to lead West Bengal can’t get its most iconic history right.”
The slip of the tongue, as it is being called, comes amid fierce electioneering in Bengal, where both the BJP and the TMC are accusing each other of disrespecting revered figures.
Earlier this week, TMC flagged a purported video of UP CM Yogi Adityanath in which he allegedly confused Swami Vivekananda with Subhash Chandra Bose.
However, the BJP later termed the video fake and released what it claimed was the original clip of Adityanath’s speech.
West Bengal will go to polls in two phases — the first phase on April 23 and the second phase on April 29. The counting of votes is scheduled to take place on May 4.