Mamata Banerjee's books included in list for Bengal school libraries, BJP slams move

The list of 536 books has been sent to 2,026 schools.

The list consists of books written by Swami Vivekananda, William Shakespeare, Rabindranath Tagore as well as Mamata Banerjee.

Mamata's 19 books- Kathanjali, Maa, Manobik to name a few- have been included in the list.

The government said each school has received a financial grant of Rs. 1 lakh to buy books from the list of suggestions.

The move has stirred a row with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing the Chief Minister of "monetising school libraries" for political gains.

"No student deserves to be punished with Mamata Banerjee’s incoherent “literary” output or her amateur art. This is nothing but a scheme to funnel taxpayer money into TMC’s election war chest through fake book sales and backdoor royalties. Another ploy to convert black money into white ahead of elections?

"After destroying the future of Bengal’s youth through violence, unemployment, and political interference in education, Mamata Banerjee is now monetising school libraries for personal and political gain," wrote BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya on X.

In 2022, Mamata had courted a row when she was awarded a special honour by Sahitya Akademi for her "relentless literary pursuit".

While writer Anadiranjan Biswas had resigned as a member of Sahitya Akademi, writer Ratna Rashid Banerjee had returned the Annadashankar Award that she had received in 2019 after Mamata was named as the awardee.

The Chief Minister was awarded for her book Kabitabitan, whose title has a striking resemblance with Rabindranath Tagore's Gitabitan.

However, she didn't formally accept the award. West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu had received the award on the Chief Minister's behalf.