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Kolkata: With the Supreme Court ruling in favour of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the BJP is looking to use the judgment and push through its Hindutva agenda in West Bengal, where it is locked in a head-on battle with the ruling Trinamool Congress.

Ever since the BJP created a stir in the state, winning 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in May, the party has ramped up its Hindutva narrative while painting the Trinamool as being biased in favour of Muslims.

The Ayodhya verdict, BJP leaders believe, will pave the way for “absolute consolidation of Hindu votes”. In the wake of the judgment, the party has decided to build a memorial to Ram and Sharad Kothari, brothers from Kolkata who were among the kar sevaks killed in Ayodhya in the run-up to the demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque.

On Saturday, the day of the verdict, senior BJP leaders, including national general secretary and West Bengal in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya, visited the Kothari brothers’ house in north Kolkata. There is already a trust in their name that organises several programmes every year. The BJP has decided to conduct a blood donation camp in the city on 17 November as a tribute to the brothers, Vijayvargiya said.

BJP’s state president Dilip Ghosh called the duo ‘martyrs’ and said there would be a memorial in their name in the state. “Some of our organisations will build it,” Ghosh said. “Society will realise what sacrifices these two young brothers made for our religion.”

The Kothari brothers were part of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in 1989. In 1990, they again led 69 kar sevaks to Ayodhya but on 2 November of that year, they were killed in police firing there.

Also read: Mamata plays Bengali card to push back a surging BJP and its ‘divisive politics’

Ghosh stands by cow milk remarks

Ghosh also stood by his remarks that milk produced by Indian cows contained gold, which is why its was yellow. The BJP leader had been ripped apart on social media over his claims.

A defiant Ghosh has, instead, circulated a video, ‘of how a cow’s veins store sun rays’ as proof of his claims. He also intensified his cow politics, visiting a number of gaushalas (cow shelters) since the Ayodhya verdict Saturday.

Ghosh said the BJP would arrange for financial assistance for those willing to start their own gaushalas and rear desi cows.

“There are several government schemes in which people can apply for loans to start their own dairy firms and gaushalas. We can also help them with assistance,” Ghosh said. “I also stick to what I said. The video that we have circulated, is a research done by an organisation.”

The BJP’s gauraksha committee has been pushing to ensure MUDRA bank loans to villagers owning cattle. “We have got a remarkable response for such schemes. There are many government schemes in which people can get cows from the government and start their own dairy,” Ghosh said. “But many are not aware of such projects. We need to explain the schemes to them.”

Also read: BJP isn’t the first to ‘politicise’ deaths in Bengal. Trinamool did same during Left rule

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