TMC minister Udayan Guha's remarks on 'Operation Sindoor' trigger row
Kolkata, May 28 (PTI): Senior Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Minister Udayan Guha has sparked a row by taking a veiled dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and 'Operation Sindoor', saying "those who once sold tea are now doing business in vermilion."
Addressing an event in Dinhata in Cooch Behar district on Tuesday, Guha, the Minister for North Bengal Development, said, "Earlier some people used to trade in tea, now they are doing the business of vermilion. Some used to sell hot tea, now hot vermilion is flowing in their blood. They are coming all the way to Alipurduar in north Bengal to sell that vermilion," he was heard saying in a viral video.
However, PTI couldn't independently verify the authenticity of the video.
He also went on to accuse the PM of trying to sow communal discord.
"Don't try to inject poison into people. Don't try to create division among people by injecting religious poison," he was heard as saying in the video.
The remarks drew a sharp backlash from the BJP, which accused Guha of insulting India's armed forces and undermining the spirit of 'Operation Sindoor', which was launched by India against Pakistan on May 7 in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar strongly condemned the remarks and demanded Guha's removal from the state cabinet.
"Udayan Guha has made a comment that is not only utterly condemnable but amounts to treason," Majumdar said.
"At a time when the entire nation is celebrating the success of 'Operation Sindoor', a minister in the West Bengal government is saying that 'sindoor' is being sold as a business. This is an insult to every person who was killed in the terrorist attack in Pahalgam and India's security forces. For such a disgraceful and reprehensible comment, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee must remove Guha from the cabinet," he said.
In a post on X, the West Bengal BJP said, "TMC Minister Udayan Guha stoops to new lows, mocking PM Modi's humble beginnings, belittling Indian Army's valour, and branding 'Operation Sindoor' against Pakistani terrorists as a 'Sindoor business' and a 'religious stunt.' This isn't a slip, it's a calculated insult to every soldier and citizen."
As of Wednesday evening, the Trinamool Congress had not issued any official response to the controversy.
Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to address a public rally in Alipurduar on Thursday as part of the BJP's campaign in Bengal.
Udayan Guha, a key member of Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet and the Minister for North Bengal Development, has made a comment that is not only utterly condemnable but amounts to treason!
— Dr. Sukanta Majumdar (@DrSukantaBJP) May 28, 2025
At a time when the entire nation is celebrating the success of #OperationSindoor —an operation… pic.twitter.com/rzPQvqM5zI
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
