Calcutta: BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday came down heavily on Visva-Bharati vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty over two plaques that were erected on the campus of the central varsity without the name of Rabindranath Tagore.
The marble tablets notify that Santiniketan in Birbhum district was added to Unesco's World Heritage List. The plaques have the names of chancellor Narendra Modi and VC Chakrabarty.
But the plaques omitted the name of Tagore, the founder of Visva-Bharati.
Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, said: “We can’t compromise with the name of Rabindranath Tagore.”
“I saw (the pictures of) the plaques and the vice-chancellor should not have let his ego get in the way of correcting those, with the name of Tagore. As Indians and people of Bengal, we have sentiments and emotions about our respected personalities like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore,” he added in an interaction with journalists after attending a Mann Ki Baat telecast event at Sonachura in Nandigram, his Assembly constituency.
The statement was indicative of the BJP's increasing discomfort over the issue, which the Trinamul Congress is attempting to capitalise on.
Adhikari’s comment was virtually an echo of what the chief minister said on Thursday.
“There should be no controversy over this issue as the subject is to acknowledge Rabindranath Tagore. If the vice-chancellor made the mistake, he cannot be stubborn about this…. There is no reason I cannot say this on the issue because Trinamul has already done so,” said Adhikari.
Trinamul has been demonstrating in Santiniketan for three days after Visva-Bharati failed to meet Mamata Banerjee's deadline of 10am on Friday to remove the plaques and replace them with new ones by including Tagore's name.
On Sunday, she sent transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty and junior forest minister Birbaha Hansda to take part in the demonstration.
A senior Trinamul leader said Mamata clearly instructed the party to intensify the movement against the BJP and VC Chakrabarty.
The Visva-Bharati authorities have claimed the plaques are temporary and will be replaced with new ones.
A section of varsity officials and Santiniketan residents said Adhikari’s comment proved that even the BJP was not happy with the VC's act.
“Adhikari is a very important leader and the face of the BJP in Bengal. It shows the BJP does not endorse the act of Chakrabarty, who was trying to please Narendra Modi to get an extension after November 8, his last working day after the five-year tenure,” said Sudipta Bhattacharyya, the president of the Visva-Bharati University Faculty Association.
On Sunday morning, a few hand-written posters were found on the campus where the “Visva-Bharati Bachao Committee”, an unknown organisation, demanded that Chakrabarty continue as the VC.
Trinamul said the posters were the handiwork of Chakrabarty’s cronies.
In another development, Chakrabarty sent a four-page letter to Mamata, asking her again to return a 3.1km road to Visva-Bharati’s control. The road was seized by the state government in 2021.
