BJP to put up bookstalls but says ‘fearful of upsetting Trinamool, many backed out’

Representational Image

In a bid to connect with the people during Durga Puja, the BJP has decided to set up about 2,000 book stalls in and around pandals across the state. Books by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jana Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, RSS ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhaya, Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy and others will be featured in it. “The festival is a great time to reach out to a large number of people and this year we have decided to increase the number of stalls in puja pandals. We are planning to set up about 2000 such stalls,” West Bengal BJP Vice-President Dr. Subhash Sarkar told The Indian Express. Last year the party had set up about 600 stalls.

The practice of setting up bookstalls during the festival was started by the undivided communist party in the mid-fifties and later followed by the Trinamool Congress. While books written by socialist thinker Karl Marx, former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and other left leaders were found in the CPM bookstalls, those written by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee dominate bookstalls set up by the TMC.

According to senior BJP leaders, a large number of stalls will be set up in Kolkata. “Our party organisation has expanded in the last one year and there is a need to connect with a large number of people through our bookstalls. We have asked our workers to set up more stall this year,” said Raju Banerjee, state BJP General Secretary.

Another state BJP leader however said that several puja organising committees are denying them permission to set up stalls in and around their pandals. “In several places, organisers are cancelling our bookings which were done in advance. In other places they are not taking our bookings. This is due to the fact that they do not want to anger the ruling party here. We have requested our block-level leaders to set up stalls in their blocks and connect with locals,” said Sayantan Basu, state BJP general secretary. He refused to name the puja organisers which refused them.