Mamata outshines BJP with Ram Navami celebrations as Lok Sabha campaign heats up

Mamata outshines BJP with Ram Navami celebrations as Lok Sabha campaign heats up

Famed for Durga Puja, West Bengal witnessed Ram Navami celebrations across the state on April 17. Both the BJP and Trinamool Congress leaders marched along with hundreds of participants as Ram Navami processions were taken out across the state.

The CM began the day greeting the people of the state and urging them to maintain peace. “Greetings to all on the auspicious occasion of Ram Navami. I appeal to maintain peace, prosperity, and development for all,” she posted on X.

Politics over celebration

The West Bengal government also declared a public holiday on Ram Navami attracting jibes from the BJP.

The BJP accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of trying to “redeem her anti-Hindu image” by celebrating the Hindu festival ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha election. BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari termed the Trinamool Congress celebration of Ram Navami a “sign of fear not devotion”. Earlier, the BJP had criticised the state government for not announcing a holiday on January 22, the day of the Pran Prathishtha of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya.

Banerjee had earlier claimed that some people are trying to “engineer riots” during elections. “If anyone comes to riot, you should keep quiet, keep your head cool… If there is a blast, they (BJP) send the NIA to arrest everyone. By arresting everyone, your country will become desolate…,” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said at an Eid prayer in Kolkata on April 11.

The Trinamool has been alleging that the BJP and RSS are planning riots in the state while the BJP has blamed the Mamata government for “communal unrest” in the state.

Polling will take place in Coochbehar, Alipurduar, and Jalpaiguri on April 1 during the first phase of Lok Sabha polls.

The issue of Trinamool holding Ram Navami celebrations across the state and the BJP accusing it of using the occasion for political gains took centre stage on the last day of the Phase I poll campaign.

Top leaders celebrate Ram Navami

The Trinamool began the day by holding a march in Howrah where incidents of violence were reported last year when some BJP supporters were allegedly attacked.

Processions with youths chanting “Jai Shri Ram” and holding saffron flags and replicas of swords amid beating of drums were spotted in Bankura, Purulia, Durgapur and Asansol.

Trinamool candidate from Jadavpur Lok Sabha seat, Sayaani Ghosh, also led a Ram Navami rally in her constituency. “We believe in peaceful worshipping, we don’t believe in flaunting muscle power,” she said. Trinamool MP from Birbhum, Satabdi Roy, also did the same.

On the other hand, Nandigram BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari marched in a religious procession at New Town in Kolkata. At Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas, outgoing MP and BJP candidate Arjun Singh took out a similar procession. BJP MP and Burdwan-Durgapur candidate Dilip Ghosh also led a similar rally.

Trinamool’s Ghatal MP Dev said “Ram bhakts” were present everywhere and that “God doesn’t belong to any single party”.

However, clashes broke out in Murshidabad district leaving several people injured. The incident occurred in the Shaktipur area when a group was leading a procession.

“The Ram Navami Processions were disrupted and attacked at various places across the State of West Bengal, due to the CM’s provocative speech which successfully incited miscreants, who were assured that the Law enforcement Agency won’t act against them as their hands have been tied due to CM’s public stance on Ram Navami; a day, which according to her, ‘Is a day for Rioting’,” Adhikari posted on X.