An idol washes ashore, finds itself at the centre of TMC-BJP slugfest in Bengal

The ruling TMC is projecting it as an auspicious sign just ahead of the inauguration of a grandiose temple of Lord Jagannatha in Digha by CM Mamata Banerjee. The TMC’s principal challenger, BJP, however, accused the ruling party of spinning a ‘disgraceful’ narrative around the idol.

Kolkata: An idol of Lord Jagannatha has washed ashore at Digha, a seaside town in West Bengal, and has almost immediately found itself at the centre of a political slugfest between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

With the idol, carried in by the waves of the Bay of Bengal, drawing crowds of devotees, the ruling TMC is projecting it as an auspicious sign just ahead of the inauguration of a grandiose temple of Lord Jagannatha in Digha by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The TMC’s principal challenger, BJP, however, accused the ruling party of spinning a ‘disgraceful’ narrative around the idol.

The TMC is going gaga over the “new spiritual landmark by the sea”, saying that the Rs 250 crore shrine is “a perfect blend of divinity and serenity” and “will not only be a place of worship but also a breathtaking destination for travellers seeking peace and blessings”. The party is keen to hype up the grand inauguration of the temple on 30 April to not only blunt the BJP’s aggressive Hindutva campaign in West Bengal but also blunt the saffron party’s allegations about appeasement of Muslims by Mamata Banerjee’s government.

“The idol that certain Trinamool agents and their loyal media houses are misusing for their dirty games has a broken arm. This clearly means the idol was once worshipped but is no longer in use, as broken idols are not worshipped in Hinduism,” Sukanta Majumdar, the state BJP chief, posted on X on Monday. “And yet they’ve spun a narrative around it ‘washing up from the water’. Disgraceful!”

He also posted a picture of the idol that was washed ashore, marking its broken arm.

The BJP alleged that Banerjee’s government was demeaning the dignity of the Jagannath Dham of Puri in Odisha by building a Jagannath Cultural Centre in Digha in West Bengal and trying to project it as a temple, only to gloss over its “failure in protecting the Hindus from persecution” for the sake of keeping intact the TMC’s “vote-bank among the Muslims”.

The BJP has sharpened its campaign to project the TMC as anti-Hindu after the recent protests against the new Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, turned violent and led to communal clashes in Murshidabad in West Bengal.

Mangal Rana, a worker engaged in the construction of the new Lord Jagannatha temple in Digha, found the idol of the deity on the shore of the Bay of Bengal on Sunday. The timing of its “appearance” – just 10 days before the inauguration of the shrine – sparked interest and speculation among the residents of the town and the tourists. It drew large crowds of devotees. Abani Samanta, who lives nearby, later took the idol to his home.

“Divine surprise! Days before Digha Jagannath Dham’s grand inauguration, an idol of Lord Jagannath miraculously washes ashore, sparking excitement & devotion among tourists & locals,” Nilanjan Das, the state general secretary of the TMC, posted on X. “A blessed start for this sacred project.”

Majumdar, a minister of state at the Centre and the state BJP chief, however, said that ‘Puri Dham’, the site of the grand temple of Lord Jagannatha in Odisha, was the greatest of all ‘dhams’ (religious places). “And now, for disgraceful political reasons, some are trying to play with this sacred Hindu site.”

He quoted ancient scripture, Bhavishya Mallika, and said that it was from a piece of sacred neem wood that Lord Jagannath himself, in the form crafted by Dev Shilpi Vishwakarma, had emerged. “The divine essence of Lord Krishna resides in the temple in Puri,” he wrote on X, adding: “After failing miserably in their anti-Hindu agenda, the Trinamool Congress is now trying to pass off the ‘Jagannath Cultural Centre’ as a temple to degrade the sanctity of the (Puri) Dham,” alleged the state BJP chief.

The temple is at the centre of the Jagannath Dham Cultural Centre, which is being built over an area of 20 acres in Digha.