BJP to hold pind daan for 80 workers killed in Bengal

New Delhi: As West Bengal prepares to go into the festivity mode, the BJP has decided to conduct “pind daan” of its workers and supporters, who were killed due to  the “political violence” unleashed by the Mamata Banerjee led Trinamul Congress (TMC) government in the state.

With the “pitru paksha”, a period in Hindu calender when people pay homage to their ancestors and loved ones, currently on, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to conduct the “pind daan” rituals for the departed souls of its nealy 80 workers and supporters, who were “victims of TMC’s political violence”, at Kolkata’s Babughat on September 28.

The saffron party also has big plans for the Durga Puja in the state, which will begin at the end of the “pitru paksha”.

It could be recalled here that the party had invited the family members of nearly 40 such workers to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi led government’s second term in May this year.

The BJP, which had succesfully dented the TMC citadel during the Lok Sabha polls, is now aiming to unseat Ms Banerjee led TMC in the assembly polls scheduled in 2021.

BJP working president J.P. Nadda, state incharge Kailash Vijayvargiya and other senior leaders from the state are expected to attend the ceremony. Just a day later,  the Durga Puja will begun, considered as the biggest festival of Bengalis and the state and the BJP has decided to utilise the occasion to garner support for the 2021 assembly polls.

Many senior BJP leaders, including Union home minister and party’s national president Amit Shah, are expected to attend Durga Puja pandals and participate in the festivity.

The BJP has gained in the state since 2014, with both its organisational base and the support base increasing significantly and the party, which had a minimal presence in the state politics, now has 18 MPs from the state.

A TMC worker was found dead at Narayangarh in West Medinipur district of West Bengal on July 1, 2019.

The body of 42-year-old Ganesh Bhuniya was found on a road beside a field near his residence on Monday.

While the TMC alleged that Bhuniya was killed by BJP workers, the saffron party put the blame of the death on TMC infighting.