There was a 'Five Lakh Voices Reciting the Gita' program at Brigade on Sunday. According to sources, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was also invited there. The opposition camp has raised questions about why Mamata Banerjee did not go. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gave her response to this before leaving for North Bengal on Monday. Responding to a journalist's question, Mamata said, 'How can I go to a BJP program?' At Sunday's Five Lakh Voices Reciting the Gita program at Brigade, there was not just a crowd of saints and sages. Many ordinary people had gone; there were top-tier leaders of the Bengal BJP, and the Governor was present.
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There was not a single party flag of the BJP anywhere at Brigade. However, BJP leaders could be seen sitting scattered around the field. From BJP state president Shamik Bhattacharya to Assembly opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari, Union Minister of State Sukanta Majumdar, Dilip Ghosh—who wasn't there! General leaders and workers were certainly present.
On the other hand, when suspended MLAs like Humayun Kabir are busy establishing Uttar Pradesh's Babri Masjid in Bengal, many believe that an attempt to sharpen Hindu unity from this platform was seen within the BJP. According to Mamata, Sunday's Brigade belonged to the BJP.
Mamata Banerjee said, 'If this had been an impartial program, I would certainly have gone. How can I go to a BJP event? I belong to a party, and I have an ideology. I respect all religions. I respect all castes, all communities. But where the BJP is directly involved, how can I go? Those who say I hate Netaji don't respect Gandhiji. I cannot go there. The soil of my Bengal has not taught me this.'
