Kolkata: In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned that Matangini Hazra, a freedom fighter from West Bengal, hailed from Assam.
Trinamool Congress pounced on the faux pas, demanding an apology from Modi on the faux pas.
TMC general secretary and spokesperson Kunal Ghosh lashed out at Modi, saying that the PM has scant knowledge of history.
“@BJP4India Matangini Hazra from Assam? R u mad? U don’t know history. U have no feelings. You just read a written speech (that also by others) with drama. This is insult to Bengal. You must beg apology. Hope Your LOP from East Midnapore will also condemn such a mistake,” Ghosh tweeted.
TMC also tweeted about the mistake. “Matangini Hazra is a freedom fighter from Bengal, Mr. @narendramodi!’ ‘With such scant regard for our glorious history, you have insulted all of #Bengal once again. Is @BJP4India committed to erasing our history? Mocking it as they please? SHAME,” the party posted, attaching a purported video with the post.
The BJP defended its supreme leader, saying that TMC was creating an unnecessarily controversy, and claimed that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has made several faux pas in her speeches in the past.
“It was a minor mistake on the Prime Minister’s part and the TMC is deliberately highlighting it while trying to overlook other parts of his speech where he spoke about many projects initiated by the Centre,” said state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh.
Leader of opposition in West Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari tweeted: “TMC is no one to teach history or geography to anyone.”
