After mosque row, Ayodhya-style Ram Temple proposed in Bengal

Kolkata: In a sharp escalation of Bengal's temple-mosque political duel ahead of the assembly polls, posters appeared across Salt Lake on Thursday announcing plans for an Ayodhya-style Ram temple complex on the metropolis's eastern fringes, promising a school, hospital, old-age home and other welfare facilities.

The posters, attributed to local BJP leader and former local unit president Sanjay Poyra, have come up in City Centre, Karunamoyee and several other prominent pockets of Bidhannagar.

They proclaim that a Ram temple "similar to the Ayodhya structure" will be erected on a four-bigha plot and invite residents to contribute Re 1 each as donation for the project.

The development comes just days after suspended TMC MLA Humayun Kabir laid the foundation stone of a Babri Masjid-styled mosque in Rejinagar, Murshidabad, on December 6, the anniversary of the 1992 demolition, under unprecedented security.

On the same day, the BJP held a parallel ceremony in Banjatiya's Manindra Nagar, also in Murshidabad, where local leaders initiated groundwork for a Ram temple, taking sharp aim at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for "appeasing politics".

With Salt Lake now entering the arena, the battleground has moved close to the state's administrative heart, giving the political tug-of-war an unmistakable symbolic edge.

Speaking to reporters, Poyra described the initiative as a social-spiritual movement rooted in 'Ram Rajya'.

"Ram's kingdom must have Ram's temple. A Ram temple will come up in Bidhannagar- just like the one in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh," he said.

On the specifics of land, Poyra remained guarded.

"We have identified land, but I will not disclose the location now. If we reveal it, obstacles will be created. Many people have offered to donate land, many have offered to supply construction materials, and some have even expressed willingness to donate idols," he said.

Poyra announced that the bhumi pujan and foundation stone-laying ceremony will be held on March 26, coinciding with Ram Navami.

"At 10 am on Ram Navami, we will perform the shilanyas. Hindu Sanatanis from all walks of life will gather. If people wish to contribute Re 1 for the temple, we will accept it joyfully," he said.

The posters also claim that the proposed complex will house a hospital for the poor, a school, women's education facilities, an old-age home and other welfare projects, a template the organisers say mirrors their version of "Ram Rajya", coupling devotion with public service.

"Along with the Ram temple, there will be healthcare for the sick, a school for children, an old-age home and programmes for empowerment of women. This will not just be a temple, it will be a centre of service," Poyra added.

The Bidhannagar civic authorities have not yet commented on the posters or on whether any formal application has been submitted for such a construction, especially in a planned township with regulated land-use norms.

A senior political analyst said the sequence of events, a Babri-model mosque announced on December 6, a Ram temple foundation ceremony by BJP in Murshidabad the same day, and now Salt Lake's Ayodhya-inspired temple pitch, shows how "both sides are weaponising religious imagery to energise polarised constituencies".

With assembly elections barely months away, Bengal appears headed for an intense season of competitive symbolism, where shrines and scriptures have become political battlegrounds as much as ideological markers.