Nadda offers 'mass tarpan' for slain BJP workers in Bengal

BJP working president J P Nadda on Saturday performed a "mass tarpan" for party workers who lost their lives in political violence in West Bengal in the last few years.

Tarpan is a ritual in which water is offered to ancestors with prayers for peace to the departed souls.

It is performed on days such as Mahalaya, which marks the beginning of the Durga Puja festivities, and Makar Sankranti along the banks of the Ganga and other rivers.

"A mass tarpan for 80 slain BJP workers was performed at Baghbazar Ghat here. Family members of the slain BJP workers along with senior party leaders were present for the ritual," state BJP general secretary Sayantan Basu said.

Senior party leaders, including state president Dilip Ghosh and national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, were present.

The "mass tarpan" highlights the saffron party's narrative of widespread political violence in West Bengal, where the BJP has made deep inroads in the last few years, party sources said.