Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will offer prayers to Maa Kaali on 22 January, the day of Ram Lalla’s consecration ceremony at the Ayodhya Ram temple, before leading an interfaith rally, Sampriti, on the same day.
Mamata had earlier called the ‘pran pratishtha’ ceremony in Ayodhya a pre-poll gimmick of the BJP, saying religion is a personal choice.
“Until the Trinamool Congress is there, I swear by God I won’t allow any discrimination,” she had said on 9 January.
The CM and Trinamool Congress chief announced her plans for 22 January at a press conference held at the state secretariat Tuesday.
“I will do a rally on 22 January. It will begin from Kali Mandir, which I will visit to offer prayers to Maa Kaali,” she said. “Following that, we will hold an interfaith rally from Hazra to Park Circus maidan and hold a meeting there. We will cover mosques, temples, churches, and gurdwaras along the way. Everybody is welcome to join the rally. People of all faiths will be there at the rally,” she added.
The Trinamool Congress will be holding similar interfaith rallies in all the districts and blocks of West Bengal at 3pm on 22 January.
With the planned 22 January event, the Trinamool Congress chief will be seen back in action after a long hiatus.
Mamata Banerjee, who has been zooming in and out of hospital of late attending to injuries sustained last year, last held a rally in September 2022, to thank UNESCO for the heritage tag bestowed upon Bengal’s annual festival of Durga puja.
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‘Not linked to LS polls’
While the BJP has slammed Mamata’s 22 January plans, political analysts said her planned event is likely to send a strong message to her voters.
Speaking to ThePrint, former BJP MP Swapan Dasgupta said Mamata’s plans were part of her efforts to hold on to Hindu voters, but added that they raised questions about her sentiments towards the faith.
“For Mamata Banerjee, Hindu sentiments don’t have a validity of their own, and that’s why it needs to be linked to other faiths. She is free to choose any day to take a walk… this isn’t linked to the Lok Sabha elections but how she feels about the Hindu religion,” he said.
Political analyst Udayan Bandopadhyay said Mamata’s “playing the role of a strong Opposition not willing to leave an inch of field”.
“While the Congress is criticising the Ayodhya event, it’s not opposing the ‘pran pratishtha’ of Lord Ram. Mamata, meanwhile, is holding on to the imagination of her voters by opposing the inauguration but at the same time holding an alternative event in Kolkata, sending a message of interfaith unity,” he added.
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