TMC slams BJP MP for ‘insult’ to Tagore, Bengalis over national anthem

The Trinamul Congress on Friday launched a blistering attack on the BJP after Karnataka MP Vishweshwara Kageri claimed that India's National Anthem Jana Gana Mana was composed to please the British.

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

Calling it a "planned insult" to Rabindranath Tagore, the ruling party in West Bengal demanded an apology from the MP and his resignation from Parliament. At a Press conference at the Trinamul Bhavan, state ministers Bratya Basu and Dr Shashi Panja denounced Kageri's remarks, accusing the BJP of deliberately spreading historical falsehoods to demean Bengal's cultural icons.

"This is not just ignorance — it is an attempt to distort history and insult Gurudev," said Bratya Basu, who is also the state's education minister. Kageri, a former Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly, made the controversial statement at an event marking the 150 anniversary of Vande Mataram in Hunnavara, Karnataka.