West Bengal CM says Left Puja book stalls stock Marx, Lenin but not Vivekananda; CPI(M) hits back

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday accused the Left Front of sidelining Bengal’s Sanatan traditions and culture during its 34-year rule, claiming that books by Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin were available at Left party book stalls during Durga Puja but not works by Swami Vivekananda.

Addressing a Ganesh Puja inauguration programme in the Rajarhat-Gopalpur area of east Kolkata, Adhikari said Left parties had traditionally set up book stalls near Puja pandals, where Marxist literature was available while books by Vivekananda, Hindu mystic Baba Lokenath and publications of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha were allegedly absent.

“Even if you searched thousands of times, you would not find books on the history of the creation of West Bengal or the two-nation theory,” Adhikari claimed.

He accused successive governments of attempting to undermine traditional Hindu practices, including rituals based on the Hindu almanac and scriptures and the chanting of mantras.

Adhikari also alleged that attempts had previously been made to obstruct the listening of Mahishasur Mardini, the collection of devotional shlokas and songs dedicated to Goddess Durga traditionally broadcast by All India Radio on Mahalaya.

He further claimed that restrictions had earlier been imposed on the immersion of Durga idols on Vijay Dashami when the festival coincided with Muharram.

The chief minister said inaugurations of Durga Puja pandals before Mahalaya, during Pitru Paksha, were contrary to Sanatan practices. He alleged that such events had previously taken place at the behest of a former minister who is currently in jail.

Adhikari called for Puja inaugurations to begin from Mahalaya, which marks the beginning of Devi Paksha, and urged restoration of traditional rituals, including devotees offering *anjali* to Goddess Durga on Maha Ashtami.

His remarks drew a sharp response from CPI(M) leader Shatarup Ghosh, who challenged the claim that Vivekananda’s works were absent from the party’s Puja book stalls.

“I just saw Suvendu Adhikari saying that Marx and Lenin's books are available at CPI(M) book stalls, but not Vivekananda's,” Ghosh said in a post on X.

He claimed CPI(M) book stalls regularly stocked books written by Vivekananda as well as works about him.

Ghosh also invoked Vivekananda’s younger brother, Bhupendranath Dutta, to counter Adhikari’s criticism of Marxist literature.

“About 120 years ago, the person who first taught Bengalis to read books by Marx and Lenin was Swami Vivekananda's own brother, communist revolutionary Bhupendranath Dutta,” he said.

The exchange comes amid a wider political contest in West Bengal over the state’s cultural and religious identity, with the BJP and Left parties seeking to assert competing interpretations of Bengal’s political and cultural history.

Adhikari also urged people to remain united to protect their religion, traditions and cultural practices, and called for an end to divisions along linguistic and community lines.

Invoking the state’s Partition-era history, he described 20 June 1947 as a defining moment in the creation of West Bengal and credited Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Swami Pranabananda with playing a role in the movement that led to the state’s formation.