BJP slams Bengal lockdown on 'Bhumi Pujan' day of Aug 5, demands relaxation

Bharatiya Janta Party's Bengal chief, Dilip Ghosh, has slammed the state government for its decision to clamp total lockdown on August 5, the day scheduled for 'bhumi pujan' (groundbreaking ceremony) in Ayodhya for the Ram temple. The BJP MP from Midnapore was of the opinion that complete lockdown could not be of any 'coincidence'.

"It cannot be a coincidence that the state declared it to be a complete lockdown on August 5. We won't break rules and law, I have urged the State government to alter the date of completion lockdown on the 5th. It can be a day later or earlier," said Dilip Ghosh on Monday.

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Ghosh's statement on the lockdown arrived after RSS-affiliated Hindu Jagran Manch wrote a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, urging the same. Hindu Jagran Manch's Ashom Mandal said that he urges the CM to rethink and remove the complete lockdown on the day of Bhumi Pujan.

Mandal also went on to state that the Bengal government had removed lockdown on the day of Eid, hence they want Mamata Banerjee to do the same for August 5. However, a general lockdown was implemented on the day of Eid in Bengal but not a complete lockdown.

Bengal government came up with a bi-weekly complete lockdown theory that is being observed in the state, apart from the general lockdown which will be observed till the end of August. The bi-weekly lockdown will be in effect on the following dates: August 2, 5, 8, 9, 16, 17, 23, 24, and 30.

The Midnapore MP also stated that the celebration of bhumi pujan was not BJP's political program but a social festival for all throughout the country.

West Bengal has reported 75,516 Coronavirus cases thus far, of which 1,678 patients have died while 52,730 have recovered. There are now 21,108 active cases in the state.

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