Bengal BJP president and MP Dilip Ghosh inadvertently caused a major loss of face for the saffron party when he hoisted the Tricolour upside down at a Republic Day programme in Birbhum’s Rampurhat on Tuesday morning.

The event, held outside the local BJP office to commemorate the nation’s 72nd Republic Day, saw Ghosh hoist the national flag nearly halfway up the pole before realising it was upside down. According to eyewitnesses, he brought it down immediately and hoisted it in the right way soon after.

Approached by this correspondent, Ghosh declined comment on the mistake.

Trinamul district president Anubrata Mondal said the BJP leader’s faux pas while hoisting the Tricolour showed Ghosh was carelessness in respecting the national flag.

Instead of commenting on the Tricolour hoisting, Ghosh chose to remark on the recent controversy involving BJP workers chanting “Jai Sri Ram” when chief minister Mamata Banerjee, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, walked up to the lectern to speak at the 125th birth anniversary ceremony of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in Calcutta on Saturday.

Modi had declined to step in or comment.

“We chant God’s name all the time and will do it again,” Ghosh said.

His comments reflected the BJP’s reluctance to back down from its stance of using the chant as an affront to political and ideological opponents, particularly the Trinamul.

On Monday, Ghosh also offered prayers at the Tarapith temple. Speaking to reporters, he said he had prayed for securing “200-plus seats” for the BJP.