More Than 1 Lakh People To Chant Bhagavad Gita Together In Kolkata, PM Modi Likely To Attend Mega Event

The programme, “Ek Lakh Gita Path” will be held at the Brigade Parade Ground in the heart of the city on December 24.

Bhagavad Gita: BJP’s West Bengal President Sukanta Majumdar said on Monday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi might be attending a programme in the state capital Kolkata in which about 1 lakh people will chant the sacred Hindu religious scripture the Bhagavad Gita together. The mega event is likely to take place in December. The programme, “Ek Lakh Gita Path” will be held at the Brigade Parade Ground in the heart of the city on December 24, said Majumdar as quoted by PTI.

“We have invited PM Modi to attend the program, and he has accepted our invitation. One lakh people will recite Bhagavad Gita together on that day,” he said adding that several religious groups have come together to organise the massive event.

“It will be an apolitical programme,” Majumdar claimed, adding that invitations will also be sent to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Governor CV Ananda Bose, and other noted personalities of the state.

“This event has nothing to do with the BJP, and we are not organising it,” he said.

The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), however, claimed that the programme was strategically organised with an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

“As the Lok Sabha elections are approaching, it is quite natural that BJP leaders would be visiting the state more frequently. We have seen this trend ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and the assembly polls of 2021. But this would not yield any result,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP secured 18 out of 42 seats in the state, while the TMC’s tally decreased to 22. The Congress won two seats.

The Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita in English can be roughly translated to “’The Song By God” and is often referred to as the Gita. It is a 700-verse Hindu scripture, which is part of the epic Mahabharata. It forms the chapters 23–40 of book 6 of the Mahabharata called the Bhishma Parva.

The Bhagavad Gita is set in a narrative framework of dialogue between the Pandava prince Arjuna and his charioteer guide Krishna, an avatar of Lord Vishnu.

(With PTI inputs)