Kolkata: The Bharatiya Janata Party seems to be distancing itself from the man who is in the middle of a raging controversy in Kolkata and Bengal as Durga Puja enters the auspicious Navami Tomorrow.
However, it is not really helping the rudderless party, already quite discredited in West Bengal, with multiple factions and leaders pulling this way and that.
Chandrachur Goswami, president of Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha, who is yet to be arrested by the Kolkata Police for his perverse depiction of Mahatma Gandhi at a Puja Pandal in Ruby Park, Kolkata had once contested the election against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Goswami has a post-graduate degree in environmental science and also has a Masters Degree in Music, according to sources. Goswami has work experience as a ‘lecturer’ in some universities and handles multiple responsibilities of the Hindu Mahasabha. He is also editor-in-chief of ‘Swastika Digital TV’, which is allegedly backed by the BJP. The 33-year-old is a registered player of the Bengal Badminton Association.
He stood as an independent candidate against Mamata Banerjee in the Bhavanipur by-election in 2021. He got just about 81 votes.
This time Goswami wilfully got involved in the sordid controversy over the idol of Asura in the Durga Puja. The Hindu Mahasabha’s Durga Puja in Ruby Park has depicted Mahatma Gandhi as an asura, wearing spectacles; the Mahatma is being killed by the goddess in the depiction. Th entire episode has shocked the neighbourhood and visitors to the pandal. Even in social media, there has been widespread condemnations.
Watch the video of Chandrachur Goswami in which he mentions his roles in the BJP
Significantly, the BJP in Bengal has distanced itself from the Puja, even while Prime Minister Narendra Modi has paid homage to the Mahatma on his birth anniversary on October 2 at Rajghat in Delhi.
The Hindu Mahasabha president in an interview during the Bhavanipore by-election claimed that Amit Shah had positioned him at the BJP’s Vidwajjan (intellectual) Committee. He also mentioned that he campaigned for BJP candidates during assembly polls in 2021.
So far, two complaints— one from the Congress and another by CPI(ML) have been filed with the police against Goswami and his organization.
“Congress cadres have also gheroed the Kasba police station demanding action against Hindu Mahasabha members,” informed Koustav Bagchi, who had lodged a zero FIR on October 2 itself.
Ironically, the police has only ordered the organizers to change the looks of the Gandhi/asura idol by removing his spectacles — apparently, a moustache and change of looks have now happened since the controversy burst out in the open.
When contacted, an official at the Kasba police station in South Calcutta, told eNewsroom, “An FIR has been registered on the issue.”
