West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday went on the offensive to answer the BJP's charge she was 'anti-Hindu'.
Speaking at a Trinamool Congress rally in Nandigram, from where she will contest against one-time loyalist Suvendu Adhikari, Mamata said she was a Brahmin, who knew more Hindu rituals than "fake Hindu leaders" of the BJP.
Mamata was quoted by The Indian Express as saying, "Don’t play the Hindutva card with me. I am a Hindu Brahmin girl. I do Chandi Path before stepping out from my house… Those who are coming from Rajasthan and Gujarat, they are insiders and I became an outsider!” During the rally, Mamata even recited from the religious treatise Chandi Path.
However, the 'Hindu Brahmin' boast did not go down well with West Bengal Congress unit chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Adhir was quoted by ABP News on Wednesday as saying, "Earlier she used to say 'I wear Hijab and protect Muslims', and now Mamata is trying to prove herself a Hindu Brahmin. I have never seen her reciting Chandi Path before."
Mamata's recital from the Chandi Path also attracted attention from Suvendu Adhikari. Adhikari alleged she had chanted the wrong mantras and thereby insulted the state.
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BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya also attacked Mamata for reciting from the Chandi Path. "She has been the chief minister for ten years. She should talk about development in the state. Instead, she is reciting Chandi Path to prove that she is a Hindu. What wrong has she done that she has to recite Chandi Path from a stage?" Vijayvargiya was quoted as saying by ANI.
