Amit Shah's PR disaster in Bengal: Tribal community outraged; TMC mocks Shah

Outsiders are at it again, TMC said

amit-shah-wb-faux-pas via Twitter

Home Minister Amit Shah's tribal outreach programme in West Bengal's Bankura district on Thursday suffered a setback after it turned out that the statue that the home minister paid floral tribute amid much fanfare was not tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda, but an anonymous tribal hunter.

According to media reports, it was at the last minute that the tribal leaders pointed out that the state was not of the tribal freedom fighter who was killed at the age of 25. Realizing the mistake, the BJP placed a portrait of Munda at the foot of the statue, and Shah paid floral tribute to the statue and garlanded the portrait, a move that did not go down well with the tribal people of the area.

On his Twitter handle, the home minister had said, "Paid floral tributes to legendary tribal leader Bhagwan Birsa Munda ji in Bankura, West Bengal today.

Birsa Munda ji’s life was dedicated towards the rights and upliftment of our tribal sisters & brothers. His courage, struggles and sacrifices continue to inspire all of us."

According to Telegraph, leader of tribal outfit Bharat Jakat Majhi Pargana Mahal Sangiri Hembram said in the official programme of the saffron party, it was clearly mentioned that the home minister would pay floral tribute to the statue of Munda. “He then goes and offers tribute to that random statue of a tribal hunter. It clearly betrays a lack of knowledge of the basics of our culture and an unwillingness to learn,” Hembram was quoted as saying. He further said this was unexpected from the BJP as Munda is the only tribal leader whose portrait is installed in Parliament museum and has an international airport named after him.

According to an NDTV report, people from the tribal community sprinkled water from the river Ganga around the statue to purify it.

While the entire programme of Shah in Bankura, including having lunch at the house of a local tribal functionary of the party, was designed with the intention of wooing tribal voters, the faux pas appears to have alienated the community. The local BJP leadership hastily owned up the mistake, saying Shah is not to be blamed for the gaffe. "The embarrassment is ours. We had briefed him wrongly. But we managed to control the damage at the last minute,” Telegraph quoted a BJP leader as saying.

The faux pas gave TMC enough ammo to target the saffron party and Shah. 'Bohiragato (outsiders)' are at it again! Union Home Minister Amit Shah is so ignorant of Bengal's culture that he insulted Bhagwan Birsa Munda by garlanding a wrong idol and placed his photo at someone else's foot. Will he ever respect Bengal?" the party said in a tweet.

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