The saffron ecosystem has decided to use a large number of cutouts and flexes of Ram Lalla and the Ram temple in Ram Navami processions across Bengal on Wednesday.

A source said the organisers of major rallies in Bengal had been asked to display the cutouts and flexes of Ram Lalla and Ram temple as much as possible in the processions.

This time, the saffron ecosystem will organise a little over 5,000 rallies across Bengal, including a dozen major shows with at least one lakh crowd each at places like Barasat, Calcutta, Howrah and Siliguri.

Ram Navami is scheduled to be observed on April 17. The first phase of the general election will be held on April 19. Three constituencies in Bengal will go to the polls on that day.

A functionary of Hindu Jagaran Mancha — a Sangh Parivar wing, tasked to celebrate Ram Navami, along with Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) — said the celebration this year would be a bigger show than ever before. However, all processions in Bengal are organised in the name of the Ram Navami celebration committees, apparently to make it free from political connections.

“The consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22 is the main theme of Ram Navami celebration. That is why the cutouts of Ram Lalla and the Ram temple will certainly be displayed in most of the processions in almost all 341 blocks in our state. This time, the celebration will be remarkable,” said Joydipta Mondal, a state joint secretary of the Hindu Jagaran Mancha.

Several traders involved in the printing business said they had received bulk orders for cutouts of Ram Lalla and the Ram temple from different committees organising the Ram Navami processions.

“The demand for cutouts and flexes of Ram Lalla is very high this time. Earlier, we used to get orders for only traditional images during Ram Navami rallies. We have already delivered around 20 big cutouts of Ram Lalla to three committees organising Ram Navami in our district,” said a trader in Birbhum.

Although BJP leaders are not directly involved in organising Ram Navami rallies, the party’s rank and file actively participate in the processions.

As the celebration of Ram Navami emerged as a political tool, Trinamul Congress leaders, albeit unofficially, have also started organising processions and this year will be no exception.

“We will actively take part in Ram Navami celebrations. Ram Navami is not a property of any particular political party as the festival is universal,” said Alok Mukherjee, chairman of Trinamul’s Bishnupur organisational district in Bankura.

Howrah order

Justice Jay Sengupta of Calcutta High Court on Monday issued an order allowing the Viswa Hindu Parishad to hold a rally on Ram Navami day on Wednesday but with only 200 members.

The judge said the processionists would not be allowed to carry any weapon. It would start from the Botanical Gardens in Howrah and end at Ramkrishna Ghat without the rally stopping at any place to deliver speeches. No provocative slogan in the rally will be allowed, the judge said.

The VHP had moved the court after police had refused to permit the rally because of last year’s violent incidents.