Wondering why West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gets angry on hearing the "Jai Shri Ram" slogan, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Monday said that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had respect for Lord Ram.
Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, on Saturday refused to speak at an official event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Bose's birth anniversary after "Jai Shri Ram" slogans were raised from a section of the audience just before she was to start her address.
Quoting from a letter written by Netaji to his mother, Adhikari said that Bose had praised the Ramayana and Lord Ram.
Adhikari, who switched sides from the TMC to the BJP last month, said that the letter was published in a book which is a collection of letters written by Netaji to his mother.
He questioned why Banerjee "gets angry on hearing Jai Shri Ram".
The prime minister, who participated in the birth anniversary celebration of Netaji in Kolkata on Saturday, has shown the highest regards to the great freedom fighter, he said.
Adhikari, once a trusted aide of Banerjee, claimed that Modi has never differentiated among religions in his development agenda.
Addressing a meeting after a roadshow at Tamluk, the headquarter town of Purba Medinipur district, the former West Bengal minister claimed that atrocities on BJP workers by the TMC activists have reached intolerable levels.
"The Left Front could not hold on to power by such activities and the TMC too will not be able to do it," he said.
On the accusations made by certain TMC leaders that he had taken bribes, enjoyed power for 10 years and then deserted the party, Adhikari said that those who are levelling such allegations should look into their own backyard first.
He said that though he is in anti-Left politics, he has always respected certain Left leaders as they led a humble life and were honest.
"I have always respected leaders such as Promod Dasgupta, Binoy Chowdhury, Gita Mukherjee, Biswanath Mukherjee and Sukumar Sengupta," he said, adding that his fight was against the likes of Lakshman Seth, who was a powerful CPI(M) leader of Haldia.
Adhikari also vouched for the honesty of CPI(M) Politburo member and West Bengal Left Front chairman Biman Bose.