Former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee remembered Rabindranath Tagore in her ‘Pochishe Boishakh’ message amid BJP leader and her former aide Suvendu Adhikari taking oath as the new CM of the state.
In a post on X, Mamata Banerjee said that Rabindranath Tagore’s “profound philosophy” of life serves as the “eternal guiding light for our daily journey”. Pochishe Boishakh (25 Baisakh according to the Bengali calendar) commemorates the birth of Tagore.
On this sacred day of the twenty-fifth of Baishakh, I offer my endless salutations at the feet of the world-renowned supreme thinker and poet laureate, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. Rabindra Jayanti is for us a grand festival of the rebirth of the Bengali language, culture, and heritage. His profound philosophy of life serves as the eternal guiding light for our daily journey. He has taught us—division is not the truth; unity is. Rising above the fervour of aggressive nationalism, he has imparted to the entire world the great mantra of unity for all human civilisation,” she wrote in the post.
The TMC supremo’s tribute to Tagore also included a couplet from the Nobel Laureate’s poem “Bharat-Tirtha”.
“O my heart, awaken slowly at this holy pilgrimage site,
At the ocean-shore of this great soul of India,” the couplet read.
Mamata also wishes for the eternal ideals, far-reaching thought-currents, awakened consciousness, and creative genius of Rabindranath Tagore to “shine even more intensely in the minds of people across the globe.”
Suvendu Adhikari takes oath
Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday took oath as the first BJP chief minister of West Bengal since Independence, formally ending the Trinamool Congress’s 15-year rule in the state at a high-security ceremony held at Brigade Parade Grounds in Kolkata.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and several senior BJP leaders attended the swearing-in ceremony, which drew thousands of BJP supporters from across Bengal and neighbouring states.
Security was tightened across key locations in Kolkata ahead of the event, including outside Adhikari’s Chinar Park residence, Brigade Parade Grounds and the Kalighat residence of Mamata Banerjee. CRPF personnel and Kolkata Police maintained a multi-layered security arrangement amid heightened political activity in the city.
Supporters carrying BJP flags and raising slogans gathered at various points before proceeding towards the ceremony venue. “It is a historic day. We have come to witness West Bengal getting independence from the clutches of the TMC,” a supporter from Jharkhand said.
Adhikari’s elevation was formalised on Friday after Amit Shah announced him as the leader of the BJP legislature party at a meeting of the party’s 207 MLAs in Kolkata.
“A meeting of our West Bengal legislature party was held. The BJP national president nominated Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi and me as central observers. We received nearly eight proposals, and all of them suggested the same name,” Shah said.
The BJP scripted a historic victory in the two-phase assembly elections, winning 207 of the 294 seats, while the TMC was reduced to 80.
