Lakhs of Sanatani devotees, led by prominent sadhus and sadhvis, on Sunday assembled at the historic Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata to participate in a mega Bhagwad Gita recital programme christened Paanch Lakkho Konthe Gita Paath (chanting of Gita in 5 lakh voices).
While Governor CV Ananda Bose addressed the gathering — interpreted by many a critic as a pre-electoral show of strength by the pro-BJP groups — senior BJP leaders, including Union Minister and former Bengal BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar, ex-MP Locket Chatterjee and MLA Agnimitra Paul, and prominent religious figures, including Dhirendra Shastri and Kartik Maharaj, attend the event.
Speaking to the media men after the programme, Majumdar said, “Gita is not a religion-specific book, it applies not only to the Hindus but members of all religions.”
On whether Bengal was getting split along communal lines after former Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir’s laying of the foundation stone of a Babri Mosque at Murshidabad on Saturday, followed by chanting of the Gita by lakhs of people on Sunday, he said, it was Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who had brought the situation to such a pass.
State BJP spokesperson Sajal Ghosh said, “alarmed by the steady alienation of the Muslim votes Mamata Banerjee has fixed Humayun Kabir to unite the Muslim votes in the name of Babri Mosque, she knew that his suspension from the party would trigger communal sentiments more than on normal conditions after the elections if Kabir manages to get some seats he will claim the chair of Deputy Chief Minister and Mamata will happily grant that, so it is time the Hindus should unite and identify the real communal forces of Bengal and get rid of them one is sure Gita chanting will cleanse the heart of people and focus them on the real cause.”
Meanwhile, in a parallel, Kabir said that he too would give a call to Muslim clerics to chant hymns from the Quran. “I respect the Hindu sentiments and I respect the chanting of their religious scripture Gita. I, too, call upon the cleric to do the same and I am giving a call to chant the Quran in one lakh voices. The event will be decided and the date will be declared soon,” he said.
Referring to the Sunday’s the TMC said that it was being done to further political goals. “When religion comes out of the home and is peddled in public, it surely has a political purpose. The BJP and its associates are doing the same with an eye on the 2026 Assembly elections.”
