As the days of the first state election in India come nearer, the controversy over the sloganeering of Jai Shri Ram took a new turn in West Bengal. Trinamool Congress leader, Abhishek Banerjee stated that TMC would not chant Jai Shri Ram, instead it would chant Jai Siya Ram and would make the BJP do so. This comes in the heated run-up to the West Bengal assembly elections which is poised between four sides TMC, BJP, Left-Congress alliance, & the Indian Secular Front (backed by AIMIM).
Also See: West Bengal 2021: Battleground for BJP and TMC
At a function organized by Ministry of culture, on the 125th Birth anniversary of Netaji, at Victoria Memorial grounds in Kolkata, BJP party workers created a shambolic scene by sloganeering Jai Shri Ram, to which the CM of West Bengal gave an apt short reply and did not give any long speech. In the aftermath of this incident, BJP has tried to paint TMC as a party that does not like Lord Ram.
In a smart turn of events, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, at a rally in Kulpi in South 24 paraganas stated that TMC would chant Jai Siya Ram instead of Jai Shri Ram and would force the BJP to follow the suit. In the same rally, he also commented that Dinesh Trivedi, who resigned from Rajya Sabha, be allowed to leave as he was feeling suffocated in the TMC camp.
Also see: Trilateral fight in West Bengal election 2021
Through this comment of Jai Siya Ram, TMC has now symbolically challenged BJP on two fronts; one on the issue of polarizing communalism and on the issue of gender empowerment.
