Raj Bhavan holds state foundation day event despite CM’s objection

Kolkata: With Raj Bhavan celebrating the ‘West Bengal Foundation Day’ despite the objection of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress (TMC) criticised Governor CV Ananda Bose, accusing him of distorting the history of the state.

On Monday, the Chief Minister shot off a letter to the Governor, writing that she is “shocked” to know that the latter has decided to organise a programme on Tuesday, at Raj Bhavan, commemorating what has been “peculiarly chosen” to describe as “the State Foundation Day of West Bengal”.

Apart from mentioning in her letter that the Governor “admitted” that it was a “unilateral and non-consultative decision”, she asserted that “the state was not founded on any particular day, least of all on any 20th June...”

Raj Bhavan chose to celebrate the occasion on Tuesday marked with several events, including a parade by NCC cadets, a peace run and sit and draw competition. It clarified that the event was commemorated following an advisory from the Central government which apparently mentioned that till now “Raj Bhavan has already observed five State Foundation Days, and celebration of West Bengal Foundation Day was in the sequence”.

It was further mentioned that “the letter received from the state government will be treated with all seriousness and will receive priority attention and taken up with competent authorities for appropriate action.”

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: “Without informing the Chief Minister or the state government, Bose celebrated it by going against the sentiments of this state. Ahead of June 20, 1947, when the voting process took place in Bengal Assembly, on June 3 Lord Mountbatten had already revealed his partition plan which was an incident of sorrow and grief to us. Such things are never celebrated.”

“We want to ask the BJP why they are not celebrating the foundation day of Punjab which was divided in a similar manner. Why isn’t the governor of Punjab celebrating it then?”, Kunal questioned.

The Leader of Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari told the media that Mamata Banerjee objected because she does want to give the limelight to anyone else. He opined that it was on this day in 1947, under the leadership of Syamaprasad Mookherjee, the Assembly decided that West Bengal will remain an integral part of India. This led to the creation of Bengali Hindu’s own homeland, he claimed.

Replying to this, Kunal tweeted: “LoP@SuvenduWB’s attempt to distort history is both misleading and divisive. West Bengal was not founded on the basis of any particular religious identity but as the consequence of a painful partition that uprooted millions of people and devastated the economy of Bengal. His narrative, though, perfectly fits @BJP4India’s strategy of pitting communities against each other and stoking communal tensions. Unfortunately, history cannot be rewritten to serve political agendas!”