BJP insulted Netaji by raising 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans: Mamata

Pursurah : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday lashed out at the BJP, accusing it of insulting Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose by raising 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans at an event to mark the icon's 125th birth anniversary.

Banerjee said she had to face taunts and insult in the presence of PM Narendra Modi at Victoria Memorial during the main 'Parakram Diwas' celebration. Branding the BJP as a group of "outsiders" and "Bharat Jalao Party", she said it has been continuously insulting the icons of Bengal, Netaji being the "latest addition to the list".

"I would have saluted you if you had hailed Subhas Chandra Bose. But if you try and put me at gun point, I know how to retaliate. What they (the audience) did on that day was an insult to Bengal," Mamata Banerjee said

"Would you invite anyone to your house and then insult the person? Is this the culture of Bengal or our country? I would have had no problem if slogans hailing Netaji were raised.

I would have saluted them. "But they didn't do that. To taunt me, they shouted slogans which had no relation to the programme. This is their (BJP) culture," she said. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said nobody should feel pain while chanting the slogan. Raut said he is sure Mamata Banerjee also has faith in Lord Ram.

"Jai Shri Ram is not any political word. It is a matter of our faith, and I am sure that Mamata Didi also has faith in Lord Ram," the Rajya Sabha member said.

The BJP has identified Mamata Banerjee's "weak point" and it will keep playing up such sensitive issues until the Assembly elections (in West Bengal) are over, it said. No one is being forced to raise 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans and there is nothing to feel bad about its chanting as it is a greeting, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said.