Government trying to appease a certain community: Suvendu barb at state over TET date

The Akhil Bharatiya Sanskrit Parishad is scheduled to hold the Gita Path event at Brigade Parade Ground on December 24 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend it

Suvendu Adhikari: File image

Saibal Gupta, TT, Calcutta, 08.12.23 : Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday accused the state government of political manoeuvering and said it was "trying to appease a certain community" after the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) had been rescheduled for December 24 when a Sangh parivar outfit was slated to hold a religious event in Calcutta.

The Akhil Bharatiya Sanskrit Parishad is scheduled to hold the Gita Path event at Brigade Parade Ground on December 24 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend it.

The TET had been scheduled for December 10. The government later postponed the exam to December 24.

Addressing a press conference at the Assembly building on Thursday, Adhikari said: "The state government is playing politics with the Gita Path schedule, originally announced a year ago. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and spiritual leader Jagadguru Shankaracharya will be present. The government is trying to appease a certain community by rescheduling the exam."

The Parishad has also invited Mamata Banerjee to the religious event.

Adhikari alleged that rescheduling the TET exam was not coincidental but was done to ensure Mamata's participation in a government-sponsored wedding on December 10.

"On December 10, she (Mamata Banerjee) will go to Alipurduar on a government-sponsored helicopter to attend a marriage ceremony and so, the TET was rescheduled for December 24. It proves that she is against traditional culture," said the BJP leader.

A senior Trinamul leader said: "These charges prove the BJP has lost the plot in Bengal and is levelling unfound allegations of appeasement. These are administrative decisions that have no connection with any event."