With West Bengal headed to assembly elections, rivals TMC & BJP sparred on January 23 during celebrations in Kolkata to mark the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, sharing a dais with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Victoria Memorial, refused to speak after her speech was interrupted by BJP supporters who raised ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans. She said they had no right to “humiliate a person after extending an invitation.” Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister had targeted the Centre for declaring Netaji’s birth anniversary as Parakram Divas. Prime Minister Modi, who addressed Banerjee as “behen” (sister), said Netaji would have been proud to see that the country is following his footsteps. Meanwhile, Banerjee’s remarks against the Centre drew criticism from Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar. After unveiling a portrait of Netaji, Dhankhar, who has been at loggerheads with the ruling TMC, said, “Don’t oppose everything just for the sake of opposition.”
