All schools in Bengal celebrating I-Day as per their choice: Mamata Banerjee

In the backdrop of reports that the state government has ordered schools to ignore a central government circular and follow their usual mode of celebrating Independence Day, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday reacted strongly describing it as a misrepresentation of facts.

"Some BJP-cornered media misrepresenting facts. Don't mislead. In Bengal each one has the full freedom to celebrate 70 years of our freedom," she tweeted. "All schools in #Bengal ARE celebrating #Independence Day as per their choice. In their own special way," Banerjee wrote on her Twitter handle.

Ahead of Independence Day, the Centre had written to the states to organise events in schools towards creating a "patriotic mood" and a "mass fervour" to help realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "New India" vision. Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar had alleged that West Bengal had instructed its schools to desist from following the Centre's circular. Javadekar had termed the decision of the Trinamool Congress government as "unfortunate".