the The West Bengal administration has refused permission to hold Rabindra Jayanti celebrations at multiple locations in the city, the Trinamool Congress has alleged. The party claimed on Friday that the administration had rejected applications from non-political organizations for three different places.
“Bengal administration refuses to allow Rabindra Jayanti celebrations to take place. Yes, you read that right, this is the new Bengal. This is the great ‘Boriburton’,” the TMC wrote on X.
Suvendu Adhikari takes oath on Rabindra Jayanti
Confrontation occurs when a country undergoes a transition of power. The BJP won 208 of the 294 seats in the assembly elections, ending 15 years of TMC rule. Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a meeting in Kolkata on Friday where Suvendu Adhikari has been elected leader of the BJP Legislative Council party. Following the meeting, Adhikari reached Lok Bhavan to reiterate his demand to form the government.
Adhikari is scheduled to take oath as prime minister on Saturday at the parade ground. The ceremony coincides with the 165th anniversary of the Nobel Prize laureate’s birth Rabindranath Tagore, scheduled for May 9.
The TMC criticized the BJP’s decision, calling it an attack on the cultural identity of Bengal. The party announced that it will instead hold its own celebrations in the vicinity of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s residence.
Rabindra Jayanti is traditionally celebrated with Rabindra Sangeet, poetry recitation, and cultural programmes, especially at institutions such as Visva Bharati University.
“Non-political organizations had sought permissions for three different sites, but they were all denied,” the party said, adding that the BJP could not “snatch” Tagore from the “heart and soul” of the state.
“BJP, remember our words, you cannot snatch Kobiguru Rabindranath Tagore from our hearts and souls,” the TMC warned.
This comes two days after Mamata Banerjee announced that she would not resign, claiming that the election results did not reflect the “true public mandate.” “Let them dismiss me, let them impose the president’s rule,” she claimed, declaring the results a “dark day.”
The governor dissolved the council on May 7.
Who is Rabindranath Tagore?
Rabindranath Tagore was a poet, writer, philosopher and Nobel laureate who reshaped modern Bengali literature and music. Born in 1861, he became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for his work Gitanjali.
His writings explored themes of humanity, nature, spirituality and freedom, and his songs, known as Rabindra Sangeet, remain central to Bengal’s cultural identity. Tagore also founded Visva Bharati University in Santiniketan.
