Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh on Saturday said his party considered the hunter’s statue in Bankura as that of tribal icon Birsa Munda because home minister Amit Shah had paid floral tributes to it.

Tribal residents and leaders, however, did not endorse Ghosh’s claim and said it “added insult to injury”.

Shah on Thursday paid floral tributes to the statue of an anonymous tribal hunter that the BJP leaders mistook as that of Birsa Munda. The statue was garlanded by BJP leaders 30 minutes before Shah’s arrival and a portrait of Birsa Munda placed at its feet following calls from tribal representatives to the saffron leadership about the mistake.

“We see him (Birsa Munda) as a freedom fighter...Home minister has garlanded the statue. We also kept a portrait of Birsa Munda there and he (Shah) garlanded it. We considered the statue as that of Birsa Munda and paid our tribute. The statue will be of Birsa Munda from today after the announcement by our home minister even if they (the state government) did not name it... everyone has to accept it,” Ghosh said at a news meet.

Ghosh also claimed the area had been named Birsa Munda More by the Trinamul-run zilla parishad, and a small statue of Birsa removed and the new one installed.

“It would be better for BJP leaders to admit their mistake,” said a member of tribal outfit Bharat Jakat Majhi Pargana Mahal in Bankura, Sangiri Hembram.

Bengal’s Covid cases

For the 12th successive day since Durga Puja, Bengal on Saturday logged a drop in total active cases.

Bengal logged 3,928 new cases and 4,339 recoveries on Saturday. It reported 58 deaths, including 20 from Calcutta, taking the toll to 6,069. Though the total number of infections went past 4 lakh, at 4.01 lakh, there are 35,088 active cases.