West Bengal Chief Minister Criticizes Attempts to Divide Hindu Festivals

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday said festivals such as Chhath, Ganesh Utsav and Ram Navami belonged to all Indians, hitting out at attempts to divide Hindu festivals along regional and linguistic lines in an apparent swipe at Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray. Adhikari described such attempts as a product of a "petty, regressive mentality" driven by vote-bank appeasement. Speaking to ANI after participating in Chhath Puja celebrations at Ramkrishnapur Ghat in Howrah, he said festivals could not be restricted to particular states or linguistic communities. "Certain people, driven by a narrow-minded, regressive mindset, tried to create such divisions. They would claim that the Ganpati festival belongs only to the Marathis, that Chhath belongs only to the people of Bihar, or that Ram Navami belongs only to Uttar Pradesh. They did all this out of a petty, regressive mentality and for the sake of vote-bank appeasement politics," he said.