BJP’s Burdwan-Durgapur candidate Dilip Ghosh adds to faux pas as he garlands wrong statue

Ghosh garlanded bust of Raja Ban Behari Kapoor, dewan of Burdwan Raj, mistaking it for that of his biological grandson, Raj’s last nominal ruler Maharajadhiraj Bahadur Sir Uday Chand Mahtab

Snehamoy Chakraborty, TT, Calcutta, 01.04.24: Dilip Ghosh garlands a statue of Bonobihari Kapoor in Burdwan on Sunday, mistaking it for that of Uday Chand Mehtab: Picture by Munshi Muklesur Rahaman

Dilip Ghosh, the BJP’s Burdwan-Durgapur candidate, drew flak after he garlanded a bust of Raja Ban Behari Kapoor, a dewan of the Burdwan Raj, mistaking it for that of his biological grandson, the Raj’s last nominal ruler Maharajadhiraj Bahadur Sir Uday Chand Mahtab.

Ghosh, who was shifted from his constituency Midnapore to contest the Lok Sabha polls in the Burdwan-Durgapur seat, went to the Burdwan Palace on Sunday to pay his tribute. A| source said Ghosh suddenly stopped in front of the bust of Kapoor and garlanded it.

“Maharaja Uday Chand amar rahey (Long live King Uday Chand)!” said Ghosh enthusiastically, by the bust of Kapoor.

As a person accompanying him in the campaign corrected immediately, Ghosh was visibly embarrassed.

“How did a Kapoor get here?” he asked.

While the faux pas surprised the residents of Burdwan — for many of whom the Raj remains an emotive issue — Trinamul did not waste time in alleging that this was fresh evidence of how the BJP leaders are not connected with Bengal’s culture and ethos.

“Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, Birsa Munda, Rabindranath Tagore, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Ray Gunakor Bharatchandra, Jibananda Das, Lakshman Sen, Shashanka, Swami Vivekananda… and now Uday Chand Mahtab,” said a Trinamul MP, making a list of major figures of Bengal — and south Asian — history that the BJP has committed public gaffes over, in the process of tripping over itself to appropriate icons and prove its connect with the elusive state and its people, and shed its bohiragawto (outsider) label here.

“The BJP candidate again proved that they are not connected with Bengal’s culture and established what our chief minister Mamata Banerjee has always said. The BJP had made someone a candidate from the historic town, who is not even aware of the royal family of Burdwan,” said Trinamul’s leader Rabindranath Chatterjee.

Sarbajit Jash, a historian in Burdwan, said that although Kapoor was conferred the title of Raja, but was not a member of the Burdwan royal family, and served as a dewan on behalf of his minor son Sir Bijay Chand Mahtab, who was adopted by Aftab Chand Mahtab’s widow.

“As Aftab Chand had no children, his widow adopted Kapoor’s son, who became the next king. Kapoor, who was connected with the royal family mainly as an astrologer, took care of the Raj as manager,” said Jash0.

BJP leaders, however, tried claiming that Ghosh had raised a slogan in the name of Uday Chand Mahtab, as he did not know about Kapoor.

“It is not that he mistook Kapoor’s bust as that of Uday Chand. He only gave a slogan. However, our workers immediately corrected him,” said Abhijit Tah, the BJP’s East Burdwan unit chief.