BJP’s silence on MP’s remark ‘tacit approval of insult to National Anthem, Tagore’: TMC

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday paid a floral tribute to Rabindranath Tagore’s statue at Jorasanko Thakurbari and also held a protest alleging that Karnataka BJP MP Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri “demeaned” our National Anthem and the BJP has not initiated any disciplinary action against him. Senior Trinamool Congress Shashi Panja and Vivek Gupta paid the floral tribute and later led the protest alleging that the BJP MP insulted Rabindranath. Kageri recently made controversial remarks where he said that the Indian National Anthem “Jana Gana Mana”—composed by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore—was a welcome song for British officials during colonial rule. He made these remarks at an event celebrating the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram, arguing that Vande Mataram would have been a better choice for the national anthem.

Both Trinamool Congress and BJP are locked in a political tussle with one accusing another of neglecting Bengal’s most revered cultural icons. While the BJP accuses the Trinamool of neglecting icons like Bankim Chandra Chattopadhayay, the Trinamool Congress counters that the BJP’s rhetoric shows a lack of respect for Bengal’s literary and cultural pride. India’s national song Vande Mataram marked its 150th anniversary on November 7. “We are deeply pained at the insult of Bengal’s intellectuals. We will not tolerate such acts of BJP,” Panja said while addressing a gathering outside Thakurbari. Claiming that BJP has not taken any action against the Karnataka MP, Panja said: “This means the BJP is endorsing what its MP has said. Those who point to people as “deshbhakt” or “deshdrohi” should decide under which category such a comment falls.” In a post on X, Trinamool said: “BJP’s silence is not accidental, it is incriminating. Even after a sitting BJP MP brazenly demeaned our National Anthem, the party has neither condemned the remark nor initiated any disciplinary action. Their refusal to act is nothing but a tacit approval — a quiet, complicit nod to the disgrace hurled at Bengal’s pride. Such moral cowardice exposes the BJP’s Bangla birodhi mindset, where political expediency triumphs over national respect.”

“BJP’s relentless denigration of Bengal’s greatest minds has crossed every limit of decency and dignity. Time and again, their leaders have targeted the very luminaries who shaped our cultural, intellectual, and spiritual identity. Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore is not merely a poet, he is the heartbeat of Bengal, a guiding force woven into our everyday life and consciousness,” Trinamool wrote further. Trinamool Congress alleged that BJP leaders have systematically insulted every cornerstone of Bengal’s cultural universe. “Vivekananda was dismissed as an “ignorant leftist product,” while Vidyasagar’s bust was smashed, Maa Sarada mocked, Netaji’s tableau rejected, Maa Durga’s very ancestry questioned, Ramakrishna Paramhansa called “illiterate,” Tagore erased, relocated, and finally placed along with Bankim Chandra at a BJP MP’s feet” Trinamool Congress stated.