Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday slapped senior Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on the chair of poet Rabindranath Tagore during his recent visit to Uttar Pradesh with the claim of violating the dignity of Shantiniketan.
Referring to a letter by the vice-chancellor of Santiniketan, Shah clarified that there was no violation by him during his visit as he sat not in a chair but at a window.
Showing some pictures of Pranab Mukherjee, Rajiv Gandhi, and some other political leaders, Shah said, “I did not sit in the chair of Rabindranath Tagore. I want to make it clear in the Lok Sabha that I do not intend to hurt anybody’s feelings.
The clarification by Shah came after Chowdhury had said, “Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Shantiniketan and claims Rabindranath Tagore was born there! At least do your studies. Then he [Shah] goes and sits on the chair used by Tagore. That’s showing disrespect.”
Shah also took a dig at the Congress party for “misleading” everyone as per its culture.
On December 20 last year, Shah visited Visva Bharati University in Santiniketan in the Birbhum district and paid tribute to Rabindranath Tagore.