Kolkata is yet to see an end to the immersion row triggered by the Mamata Banerjee government first announcing a ban on Durga idol immersion visarjan on October 1 and later saying that immersions can only happen after police go-ahead.
October 1 also happens to be the day of Muharram and the West Bengal government had cited the possibility of communal clashes to ban Durga idol immersions on the day.
The ban was later lifted by the Calcutta High Court. Following the court’s order, the Mamata government declared that Puja organisers who want to perform immersions on October 1 will have to seek police permission.
Now, Delhi BJP leader and its ultra Hindutva face, Tajinder Bagga has said that he will be in Kolkata today to attend at least two immersion events.
One of the events will take place on October 1. Bagga announced his decision to go to Kolkata with a tweet that said, “This dashami I will be in Bengal and let me see who can stop me from Visharjan (Durga idol immersion)”.
Bagga said, “What Mamata Banerjee is doing is anti-Hindu. The Calcutta High Court rapping the West Bengal government over the issue was definitely a victory for us”.
Bagga plans to lead a Durg idol immersion procession on Sunday evening from the popular Paddapukur Puja Balak Sanghas Durga Puja in Kolkata.
Bagga’s plans have invited opposition from some quarters, with political leaders like Congress’s Sharmishtha Mukherjee saying that ‘people from outside Bengal’ are coming to ‘create tensions’.
But, the West Bengal BJP believes that Bagga’s actions will only work in the party’s favour.
The local party unit’s thinking is that if Bagga reaches the immersion point without any incident, he would have defied the Mamata Banerjee administration.
On the other hand, if Bagga is arrested, the West Bengal BJP will be able to carry on the narrative that Mamata survives on minority appeasement politics.
