PM invokes Nari Shakti as venue controversy at Santhali Conclave ignites political firestorm
On International Women’s Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a sharp broadside against West Bengal’s Trinamool Congress government, accusing it of deliberately humiliating President Droupadi Murmu , India’s first tribal Head of State.
The controversy erupted after the 9th International Santhali Conclave, originally scheduled in Bidhannagar, was quietly relocated to a remote venue near Bagdogra Airport. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her ministers were conspicuously absent.
President Murmu, herself from the Santhal community, didn’t conceal her hurt. Addressing a gathering in Phansidewa, she pointedly remarked that the administration seemingly hoped attendees wouldn’t arrive and she would simply leave.
Modi, unyielding, declared: “The country and Nari Shakti will not forgive this insult.” He called the episode an affront to India’s highest constitutional office and to every woman the President symbolises.
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