TMC slams BJP for ‘false propaganda on Holi ban’

Kolkata/New Delhi: Trinamool Congress on Thursday sharply hit back at BJP for "spreading misleading propaganda" and "falsely claiming that Bengal govt banned Holi celebrations". Minister of state for forests Birbaha Hansda said reasonable restrictions had been put in place in certain areas due to environmental concerns, and added that politics should not be brought into everything.Reiterating that anyone who wished to play Holi was free to do so, Hansda said: "We have not banned Holi; we have requested people to secure the environment. People can play Holi wherever they want. Our aim is to save the environment. The colours contains chemicals that may harm trees... I would request all who are doing politics over the issue to understand that the situation of every place is different. They should not involve politics or communities in everything."Hours earlier, BJP had accused the state govt of barring Holi celebrations in Santiniketan in order to "secure the minority vote for electoral gains".Union minister and Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said: "The Bengal govt has been doing appeasement politics for a long time because CM Mamata Banerjee knows that the Muslim vote bank helps her win elections." State leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari, too, criticised govt for reportedly banning Holi celebrations at Santiniketan's Sonajhuri Haat and accused the police of divisive and appeasement politics.Hansda criticised BJP for "dragging petty politics into environmental concerns" and pointed out that all concerns stemmed from chemicals adversely affecting Sonajhuri forest. She further explained that govt had made the appeal for caution only after evaluating the current state of the forests. The minister said it was their responsibility to protect trees when there had been increasing incidents of forest fires."It must be noted that several environmentalists have raised concerns over how the Sonajhuri forest area has been adversely impacted following Basanta Utsav celebrations in recent years," Hansda said.