Kolkata, August 28: Years after fighting a political and ideological battle with Communist Party and the Left Front in state, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday borrowed a phrase from Karl Marx to attack the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She also attacked the ruling party in Centre by calling them that 'You (the BJP) cannot drug people with the opium of religion'. Banerjee also taunted that the BJP is a party of "Ravan worshipper" that has aspired for long to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Addressing students at a rally in Kolkata, Banerjee said, as quoted by NDTV, "We observe Durga Puja, Kali Puja... What do you do? You worship Ravana (the demon king in Ramayana defeated by Lord Ram)." In her speech, Banerjee kept on accusing the BJP of politicising the "Jai Shri Ram" chant. The WB CM's address comes at a time when the students in the renowned Presidency College plan to screen "Ram Ke Naam". Anand Patwardhan made the controversial award-winning documentary on the right-wing group Vishwa Hindu Parishad's campaign for a Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee Says, ‘Country Heading Towards Presidential Form of Government’

Citing violent protests in the Presidency University premises, the authorities allegedly denied the permission to the students for screening the documentary at the varsity's campus auditorium. Meanwhile, the students of film studies department on Tuesday took the initiative of screening the controversial documentary film at Jadavpur University.

Not only the religion, the West Bengal Chief Minister even extended her support for Jammu and Kashmir. She accused the Central government of "using brute force to scuffle all voices of dissent in the Valley". She mentioned it clearly that her party and the state government would stand with "Kashmir".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 28, 2019 04:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).