West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.
Credit: PTI Photo
The BJP and the Trinamool Congress will be putting their political might to test in Bengal on Monday, the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi participates in the Ram Mandir’s inauguration at Ayodhya.
On one side is the BJP’s intense campaign to celebrate the day, while on the other, is the Trinamool’s interfaith rally planned for Kolkata, along with the block-level programmes.
“May Lord Ram forgive these ignorants and sinners as they don’t have the capacity to realize that they are on the path of Adharma,” BJP-Bengal leader Suvendu Adhikari stated on X, on Saturday.
Adhikari alleged that the Trinamool-led govt is “stooping so low”, trying to “create distraction and diverting attention from the historic Pran Pratistha ceremony of Lord Ram on January 22”. The Trinamool is realising that its all-faith rally “will fail to resonate with the public in general at the macro level”, and hence the administration is trying to create “diversions”, the leader claimed, mentioning three “exhibits”, or points, to put forth his claims
Senior Trinamool leader Aroop Biswas, countered Adhikari’s three exhibits, “Your politics has always been about division, not people. You have proved it again!”
Bengal also figured in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s X-post on Saturday. “The people of West Bengal have immense reverence towards Prabhu Shri Ram. Here is the iconic Nazrul Geeti Mono Jopo Naam,” the prime minister stated with the link of a bhajan.
BJP MP and senior leader Dilip Ghosh said that people from across the country intend to visit Ayodhya for darshan, and to see the temple. Special trains from different states, including Bengal, will be available for Ayodhya. The special trains – five as of now, from Bengal, will start from January 29.
The Trinamool’s rally in Kolkata will begin with party chief Mamata Banerjee’s visit to the Kalighat Temple. The rally, commencing in south Kolkata, will conclude at Park Circus Maidan. While Adhikari, and other BJP leaders, have shown reservations about the Trinamool’s programme, even expressing fear, the rally got a go-ahead with certain conditions when the Calcutta High Court disposed of a plea filed by Adhikari challenging the rally.
Banerjee has clarified that her party’s rally is not a counter to the January 22 event. The rally, on the contrary, will have representation of several faiths, seemingly, in an attempt to project Trinamool as a party with a concern for people from different religions.