West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee

KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday threw a challenge at top BJP leaders over recitation of Sanskrit ‘shlokas’ and dared PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah to compete with her. She came down heavily on her critics in the opposition who have alleged even religious rituals are under threat in Bengal.

“Merely sporting a tilak on the forehead cannot be a benchmark for worshippers. I invite Amitbabu and Modibabu to a competition on Sanskrit ‘shlokas’. Let’s see who has deeper knowledge of Sanskrit ‘shlokas’,” she said.

Banerjees’s comment came at a time BJP has been accusing the Trinamool Congress government of not allowing Durga idol immersion and Saraswati Puja in schools. Modi has even alleged that puja is in danger in the state.

Addressing a pre-Holi get-together organised by International Marwari Federation, Banerjee said: “Some people in Delhi point fingers at us. They visit West Bengal and allege that we do not even celebrate Durga Puja here. We have been celebrating Durga Puja for years. We have, in fact, upheld religious rituals like Nava Ratri, Chhat Puja and Ganapati Vandana,” she said. She cited her government’s temple beautification work, including the Dakshineswar temple where a skywalk has come up.

Touching on the Ram Mandir issue, she said: “How many temples have they constructed so far? They could not even construct Ram Mandir. They can only make electoral promises.”

While she did not name anyone, Banerjee touched upon BJP’s 2014 poll promise of constructing a temple at Ayodhya. While the case is pending in the Supreme Court, BJP has comes under attack from parties like Shiv Sena over its prepoll promise on the issue.

She added: “People are living in fear these days. Instead of loving their leader, they are afraid of the leader. Central agencies like CBI and ED are raiding residences. Businessmen are afraid of them.”

Calling for a change in the atmosphere of fear, she said: “While some people fail to keep their promises, we go by our words.”

