With the 2021 West Bengal Assembly election round the corner, a video of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offering prayers at a mazar (mausoleum) is being shared to claim that in a bid to appease the Hindus, Banerjee visited temples during the day and then “secretly” offered prayers at the mazar at night. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is contesting from Nandigram in East Midnapore district, visited as many as 19 temples and one Muslim shrine in the constituency over the last two days of her tour, before she returned to Kolkata with an injured foot. As part of her high-pitched election campaign, Banerjee was seen preparing and serving tea in a village — in sync with her party’s official poll theme, Bangla Nijer Meyekei Chai (Bengal wants its own daughter).
The video shows Banerjee with folded hands as a person offers prayer at the dargah with Allah O Ameen chants heard in the background. The person praying, can further be heard asking in Bangla, for Banerjee’s win in the upcoming assembly elections. The video also shows several other party members present with Banerjee and offering their prayers. The video is being shared with a narrative that states Banerjee has cheated Hindus by allegedly appeasing Muslims.
The chief minister returned to Kolkata Wednesday evening, and alleged a “conspiracy” as she said group of four-five persons pushed her and slammed a car door on her feet. She has been admitted to the state-owned SSKM hospital and is under observation.
Banerjee reached Nandigram Tuesday around 3 pm and left at 6.30 pm Wednesday after getting injured. In her trip that lasted around 28 hours, Banerjee started Tuesday with a party workers’ meeting, followed by her visit to 19 local temples and a Muslim shrine Tuesday and Wednesday. She filed her nomination at the SDO’s office Wednesday. Addressing the workers’ meeting, the chief minister alleged the BJP was trying to “divide people calling for 70:30”, referring to the share of Hindu and Muslim voters in Nandigram.
“I am a Hindu too. Hinduism teaches us to love all. It does not create division. I start my with ‘Chandi-path (reading of mantras invoking Goddess Chandi)’. Should I chant it here now? I am also a Brahmin,” she said and went on to recite the mantras. The chief minister’s push for soft Hindutva drew flak from the opposition, with the BJP saying “it was too late for her to wash her sin of appeasement politics”. BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said Banerjee’s Chandi-path was “full of faults”.
Banerjee’s visit to the mazar was public knowledge and was widely covered by the media and live streamed on her Facebook page. Hence, contrary to the claim, she did not “secretly” offer prayers at a mazar while publicly visiting temples during the day.
