Trinamul in Bankura has decided to flood the letterbox of Union home minister Amit Shah with 50,000 postcards written by tribal residents of Jungle Mahal districts seeking an apology from the BJP leader for paying tribute to an adivasi hunter’s statue by assuming it to be of Birsa Munda during his visit to the district on November 5.

“We want to utilise the discontent among tribal people over the statue-issue. It will help us show how the BJP is ignorant about tribal culture and their icon,” said a senior Trinamul leader.

Trinamul leaders said in the letters that the tribal people would send Shah, they would ask the home minister to stop BJP leaders from equating the unknown tribal hunter with Birsa Munda.

“Even after the faux pas by Amit Shah, BJP leaders are continuously saying that the statue is that of Munda. This has hurt the sentiment of the tribal community,” said Shyamal Santra, minister and Trinamul’s Bankura president.

BJP state chief Dilip Ghosh said: “I want to ask those tribal brothers why they did not protest when the the old statue of Birsa Munda which was situated at the same spot was removed by the district administration? Why did they not demand the installation of a Birsa Munda statue at the same spot? Nobody has seen Birsa Munda.”