BJP MP Locket Chatterjee on Tuesday alleged in the Lok Sabha that the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal is not allowing people to celebrate Saraswati Puja in the state.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, she accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of following the politics of appeasement.
Chatterjee also termed the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act as the politics of appeasement.
"There is such a situation in West Bengal that people are not being allowed to celebrate Saraswati Puja," Chatterjee said while opposition members were protesting against the controversial remarks made by BJP MP Anant Kumar Hegde on Mahatma Gandhi. Chatterjee alleged the situation was "similar to Pakistan where Hindus are not allowed to conduct their pujas".
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In the past few years, Hindu festivals such as Durga Puja and Ram Navami have seen clashes and trading of charges between the BJP and ruling Trinamool Congress. In 2017, the Calcutta High Court criticised the Mamata Banerjee government for not allowing immersion of idols during Durga Puja, on the same day as the Muslim festival of Muharram.
The BJP termed the incident as an attempt at appeasement. The BJP and Trinamool Congress have locked horns on the issue of allowing 'armed' rallies to mark Ram Navami; the rallies provoked riots in 2018.
(With PTI inputs)
