Kolkata, Jun 22 (PTI) The BJP government on Monday announced that West Bengal would observe a state holiday on the birth anniversary of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, as it unveiled a series of initiatives in memory of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder.
The announcement came two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during ‘Paschimbanga Divas’ celebrations, invoked Bengal’s Partition-era history and credited Mookerjee with playing a key role in ensuring that West Bengal remained a part of India.
Presenting the first budget of the BJP government in Bengal on Monday, Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta said that Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s birth anniversary on July 6 would be declared a state holiday.
The government will also install a 125-foot statue of Mookerjee and allocate Rs 200 crore for a library and research facility dedicated to preserving his legacy, the minister announced.
Mookerjee, a former president of the Hindu Mahasabha who later founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, occupies a central place in the BJP’s political and ideological narrative in West Bengal.
The budget also proposed setting up a modern museum-cum-cultural centre to mark the 150th anniversary of “Vande Mataram”, the national song written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
In another cultural initiative, the government announced plans to establish a Tagore Cultural Centre.
Seeking to promote religious tourism, Dasgupta said a heritage commission would be constituted for prominent Shakti Peeths, including Kalighat, Tarapith and Kankalitala.
A “Bengal Shakti Peeth Circuit” would also be developed to improve connectivity and tourism infrastructure around major pilgrimage sites across the state, he said.
Among other announcements, the minister said Border Security Force personnel would be exempted from professional tax.
The government also proposed decriminalising non-payment of professional tax by removing provisions for imprisonment and retaining only financial penalties for defaulters.
The measures form part of the BJP government’s broader effort to blend governance initiatives with cultural, historical and civilisational themes that have increasingly featured in its political messaging since assuming office after its victory in the assembly elections earlier this year. PTI PNT NSD
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