In a recent addition to Mamata Banerjee’s list of troubles, the BJP government in West Bengal have threatened to remove her books from public library shelves.
Library and Education Minister Gouri Sankar Ghosh criticised the practice of keeping books authored by the Trinamool Chief in state libraries. He also said that he would ask the Chief Minister Suvendhu Adhikari to initiate a probe into the “misuse of government funds” for purchasing books authored by the former chief minister.
The former chief minister had authored several books, including a children's book called “Epang-Opang-Jhapang.” The minister said that it would be removed from libraries and replaced with important books and “literature that promotes nationalist thought.”
“All libraries were forced to purchase books written by the former chief minister and were mandated to keep them on their shelves. It was a serious case of misappropriation of government funds. We will rearrange the shelves to have books that could benefit students and youth. Her (Mamata’s) books are of little use to students and youths. That is why we will remove those books from the libraries and replace them with important books that will help shape and educate students and youths,” Ghosh told The Telegraph.
The Bengal BJP government said that it will reform the education system and that the mass education department would play an important role in the process.
Ghosh told Aaj Tak Bangla that “Epang-Opang-Jhapang” will be removed from all libraries in the state.
“I will not waste space by keeping textbooks that do not develop a child’s mind. In their place, libraries will have books by Rabindranath, Nazrul Islam and Vivekananda, along with biographies of Shivaji and Rana Pratap,” he said.
In June 2025, the Mamata Beerjee government had directed that approximately 90 of her books be included in school libraries in a list of 515 books, along with financial assistance to the schools to buy books. The funds were, allegedly, mainly used to buy Banerjee’s books.
