TMC students' wing expels leader after outrage over 'attempt' to burn Tagore's photo

Kolkata: The TMC students' wing on Monday expelled a leader in West Bengal's Malda district after he was caught on camera purportedly trying to burn a photo of Rabindranath Tagore.

In a statement, Trinamool Chatra Parishad (TMCP) president Trinankur Bhattacharya said the outfit's Chanchal College president AB Soyel has been expelled and the unit has been dissolved.

"While we are expelling Soyel for the act of dishonour against Tagore, our battle against BJP's divisive politics will continue," he said.

A video went viral on social media on Sunday showing a group of TMCP activists, protesting alleged atrocities on Bengali-speaking migrant workers, trying to set on fire photos of PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and along with those was a photo of Tagore.

The opposition BJP latched onto the opportunity and attacked the TMC, branding its Bengali 'ashmita' narrative as a hollow ploy for votes.

"Such barbarism and audacity lower the head of entire Bengali society, hurt the sensibilities of every Indian," Union minister Sukanta Majumdar said.

The BJP also staged a protest outside Kolkata's Rabindra Sadan, a government cultural complex named after the Nobel laureate.

Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, who led the protest, said, "Everywhere there are locks, locks on industries, locks on democracy and locks on gates. Even Rabindra Sadan has been locked to keep us out. Is this Mamata Banerjee's personal property?"