Mamata Banerjee declares her January 22 plans: Visit to Kali Temple, all-faith rally

The ‘Sarba Dharma’ rally held by the TMC on January 22 will have people from all walks of life plus religious leaders from all faiths, and cover different shrines, before culminating in Park Circus Maidan, a minority-dominated area.

“Many of you have been asking me about temples. I have nothing to say. I have already said, Dharma jar jar, Utsav sobar (religion is for oneself, festivals for everyone)… Today I want to tell you that, on that day, I will first visit the Kali Mandir, on my own. Then I will do 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. People of all faiths will be there at the rally,” Mamata said, adding that similar rallies will be held by TMC leaders in every district.

The BJP accused the TMC of “brazen disregard of Hindu sentiments”, with IT cell chief Amit Malviya asking she was holding “a political programme in Kolkata and at blocks across Bengal”. “This is nothing but preparing ground for communal confrontation(s) on a day when Hindus will be fasting, observing rituals and visiting temples… she alone will be responsible for any untoward incident(s) that day,” Malviya posted, going on to talk about incidents of attacks on religious processions in Bengal in the past, and on some sadhus recently.

But TMC leaders called Mamata’s decision a “masterstroke”. “Maa Durga and Maa Kali are revered across Bengal. Our leader will prove a point when she visits a Kali temple… The Sarba Dharma rally, on the other hand, will reinforce our belief in communal harmony. This will be a befitting reply to the hype created by the BJP on Ram Mandir,” a senior TMC leader said.

While the TMC’s INDIA alliance partner Congress earlier announced that its leadership would not attend the consecration ceremony at Ayodhya, as did the CPI(M), Mamata’s stand had been ambiguous. Party leaders had indicated that she was unlikely to go, though no clear announcement was made.

The Bengal BJP is in the midst of all-out preparations for the Ram Temple inauguration. From January 1 to 15, the BJP went door to door as part of its ‘Ghar Ghar Yatra’ and ‘Sabka Ram’ programme, distributing invitations and ceremonial rice to people. Party leaders have been cleaning temples as well as distributing diyas to people.

The BJP has urged people to celebrate January 22 as ‘Dipavali Utsav’, and on Tuesday, its senior leader Suvendu Adhikari distributed 1 lakh earthen lamps to 20,000 families in his constituency Nandigram.

On January 22, the party will be organising live telecast of the ‘Pran Pratistha’ ceremony in neighbourhoods on giant screens, as well as hold special prayers at temples and hold Shobha Yatras.

Meanwhile, the SUCI (Socialist Unity Centre of India-Communist) has announced a rally on January 22 against both the BJP’s “Hindutva agenda” and the TMC’s “soft Hindutva”.