Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lashed out at the BJP on Tuesday for questioning her religion and said neither she nor the people of the state need to learn the meaning of 'communal harmony' from the "divisive BJP".
She even challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah to see who can chant mantras better. “Worship does not mean only putting a tilak on the forehead. You must understand the meaning of the mantras. I challenge Modi-Shah to compete with me in chanting mantras,” she added.
Mamata stressed that the BJP plays politics of religion, while she believes in religion that has humanity, not that which has a political colour.
"There are people who question my religion. I want to tell them that my religion is humanity and I do not need lectures from others about religion," she said at a programme in connection with the upcoming Holi festival.
On BJP’s allegations that she does not allow puja to be conducted in Bengal, she said they should go and see how many 'mandir' (temples) have been constructed during the TMC regime.
“Ek Ram mandir nahi bana paya, rajniti kar liya (They were unable to build the Ram mandir, but managed to play politics around it.),” Mamata said and added that her government had built a skywalk at the iconic Dakshineshwar temple in the state, and has undertaken several developmental works at religious sites.
She also paid homage to the slain jawans and their families saying, “I don’t believe in religion where they play politics over blood. I don’t play Holi with blood.”
The TMC supremo was speaking at a pre-holi event organised by the Marwari community. Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the West Bengal Chief Minister is wooing the community, primarily comprising of businessmen in the state. The business community’s support is divided primarily between the TMC and BJP.
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