West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya (centre) addresses a press conference on November 9, 2025. Image: Screenshot from a video posted on YouTube/@BJP4Bengal
Family members of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay on Sunday (November 9, 2025) joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership to highlight the neglect of the writer’s home, which was taken over by the West Bengal government nearly two decades ago.
Sajal Chattopadhyay and Sumitra Chattopadhyay, fifth-generation descendants of the famous poet and novelist, joined State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya in a bid to raise the neglect of the house.
Also read | BJP cites insult to Bankim Chandra, Trinamool highlights insult to Tagore
The BJP state president said the house at 5 Pratap Chatterjee Street in Kolkata was taken over by the West Bengal government during the Left Front regime and in 2006, the late Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee set up a library in the house. Later, in 2014, a statue of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was erected in the premises of the house by local Trinamool Congress (TMC) councilor Partha Bose.
During the press conference, the BJP leader played a video from the library where people were seen occupying the space and clothes were being dried over Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s statue.
Mr. Bhattacharya questioned the timing of the TMC government to make the singing of Rabindranath Tagore’s song ‘Banglar Mati, Banglar Jol’ compulsory during the morning assembly in government schools. The BJP leader said the decision came as the entire country paid tribute to Banki Chandra Chattopadhyay for 150 years of ‘Vande Mataram’.
On November 7, Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Suvendu Adhikari led a procession to the house of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and expressed his displeasure that the house was closed and there was no garland on the statue of the national icon.
“Bengalis should watch it. Trinamool is shouting Bengali… Bengali. Rishi Bankim Chandra is the soul of the people of Bengal,” Mr Adhikari said after finding the gates of the compound closed. He also accused the Trinamool of disrespecting the proud son of Bengal.
Sajal Chattopadhyay, one of the descendants of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, who joined the West Bengal BJP president at the press conference, said that the state administration has taken up the restoration of the property but the family members have not completely handed over their rights to the property. He asked why the library is not properly maintained and why the state government is failing in its duties.
Sumitra Chattopadhyay, another descendant of the national icon, urged the West Bengal government’s library department to conduct an inquiry into the “misappropriation of property” taken over by the state government. Claiming that the 150th anniversary of ‘Vande Mataram’ was not a political programme, he said the West Bengal government should have organized a similar celebration in the writer’s honour.
While the BJP leadership highlights the neglect of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay by the state ruling party, the Trinamool Congress claims that the saffron party is disrespecting Rabindranath Tagore.
The Trinamool Congress leadership recently alleged that BJP MP Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri had made derogatory remarks against Rabindranath Tagore and even protested over the matter. A BJP MP said the country’s national anthem, written by Tagore, was written “to welcome the British representative”.
Published – November 9, 2025 10:04 PM IST
