Overview

• Trinamool Chhatra Parishad expelled AB Soyel and dissolved the Chanchal College unit after a video alleged he burned a portrait of Rabindranath Tagore along with images of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, with party leaders saying the Tagore photo was lit by mistake.
• PTI said it could not verify the video’s authenticity, but BJP leaders shared the clip and accused the TMC of insulting a cultural icon, demanding arrests and a statement from the chief minister.
• West Bengal BJP held demonstrations in Kolkata on September 8 with Tagore portraits, and the party announced statewide protests on September 9; Suvendu Adhikari said he was blocked from garlanding Tagore’s statue at Rabindra Sadan.
• A widely shared video purportedly shows TMC Malda chief Abdur Rahim Bakshi threatening to pour acid into a BJP MLA’s mouth over remarks about Bengali migrant workers, drawing strong condemnation from BJP leaders even as Bakshi defended his comments.
• The latest flashpoints follow the September 4 Assembly fracas where Mamata Banerjee labeled the BJP “anti-Bengali” during a debate on attacks on migrant workers and Speaker Biman Banerjee suspended BJP chief whip Shankar Ghosh, who was removed by marshals.