Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday, 9 May hit back sharply at All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghosh after she accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmakers of skipping the floral tribute ceremony for celebrated poet Rabindranath Tagore on his birth anniversary at Parliament. Rijiju invoked standard Parliamentary protocol to counter her charge, calling the attack politically motivated.

What Sagarika Ghosh Posted

Ghosh took to social media platform X to allege that not a single sitting BJP MP was present at the floral tribute ceremony at Samvidhan Sadan on Tagore's birth anniversary, and that the Lok Sabha Speaker was also absent. "Not a single sitting @BJP4India MP present today at the floral tribute ceremony in Parliament on the birth anniversary of Kaviguru #RabindranathTagore. No Speaker of Lok Sabha present either. For @BJP4India grabbing power in Bengal matters more than Bengal. Tagore is only an election weapon for @narendramodi -@AmitShah. For @AITCofficial Bengal remains our eternal beloved motherland and Gurudev our pathfinder, our sage. Joy Bangla," she posted, accompanied by a photograph of herself standing with folded hands before a flower-decked portrait of Tagore.

Rijiju's Parliamentary Protocol Lesson

Rijiju responded directly on X, reminding Ghosh — a relatively new MP — that Parliamentary conventions are clear on such occasions. "You may be a new MP but you are not ignorant at all about the Parliamentary practices. When Parliament is not in session, any MP who is present in Delhi may pay floral tributes to the iconic personalities on their anniversaries at Samvidhan Sadan, otherwise MPs can pay tributes at any convenient location. Parliament officials and some BJP Ex-MPs were present today at Samvidhan Sadan. Politics 24×7 is toxic. We didn't do politics by questioning the absence of Congress & TMC Members," he replied. His response underlined that with Parliament not in session, attendance at Samvidhan Sadan is discretionary, not mandatory.

The Bigger Political Context: Bengal Swearing-In

Tagore's birth anniversary this year coincided with a politically charged event in West Bengal — the swearing-in of BJP's new Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and several cabinet colleagues. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, other central cabinet ministers, and Chief Ministers of 20 states under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) attended the grand ceremony at Brigade Parade Ground in central Kolkata. Notably, this was the first time a Prime Minister was present at such an event held at that venue. Tagore's birthday was observed on Saturday as per the Bengali calendar, on the 25th day of Boisakh.

TMC's Allegations of Blocked Celebrations

Even before the swearing-in took place, TMC's official social media handles had been posting messages alleging BJP's role in stalling Rabindra Jayanti celebrations. "Bengal administration DENIES PERMISSION TO HOLD RABINDRA JAYANTI CELEBRATIONS... Permissions were sought for 3 different locations by non-political organisations — ALL DENIED," the party's official X handle announced on Friday, adding that celebrations would instead be held near TMC Chairperson Mamata Banerjee's residence. However, Tagore birth anniversary celebrations were ultimately held not just near Banerjee's residence but at several other neighbourhoods across Kolkata as well, tempering the narrative of a wholesale shutdown.

What This Row Signals

The exchange reflects how cultural icons like Tagore have become contested political territory in the battle for Bengal. Both BJP and TMC have long sought to claim the poet's legacy as their own, and the timing of the swearing-in on his birth anniversary has added fresh fuel to that rivalry. With the new BJP government now in office in West Bengal, such symbolic disputes are likely to intensify in the weeks ahead.