In doubt or not, the street has been Mamata Banerjee’s time tested weapon for all seasons. Whether to guess the mood of the public or build a counter narrative, she has always preferred to be seen walking, and on some occasions, walking the talk as well.
On Monday while Prime Minister Narendra Modi was leading a nation-wide frenzy around the pran-pratishtha at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, some 921 km away Mamata led a march with representatives of all religions to promote harmony and peace.
If the BJP has readied the Ram temple weapon to unleash in the campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Monday’s “sanhati rally” indicated Mamata was preparing her own arsenal to take on the saffron brigade.
A little before 3pm, Mamata went to Kalighat temple, a stone’s throw distance from her 30B Harish Chatterjee street residence, where she offered the customary garland, flowers and sweets.
Mamata Banerjee reaches Kalighat Temple, offers prayers ahead of her scheduled Sanhati Rally for all faiths. The Telegraph Online.
“Around 2,000 priests will join me. Purohit der bhata o kore diyechhe (I have given allowance to the priests as well),” Mamata was heard telling the priests at the Kalighat temple, which many believe gave the city its name.
The chief minister also performed aarti at the famed temple.
The last time that Mamata hit the streets was on May 31, 2023 to support Indian female wrestlers seeking justice against then Wrestling Federation of India president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. That day she had walked the nearly 3 km stretch from Hazra to Rabindra Sadan flanked by former women footballers Kuntala Ghosh Dastidar, Shanti Mallick, retired male footballers Alvito D’Cunha, Rahim Nabi, Dipendu Biswas and others.
For the peace rally on Monday, Mamata was joined by priests and clerics from Islam, Christian and Sikh community leaders and others.
Around 3.10 pm, Mamata reached Hazra crossing where her party colleagues were waiting for her, including the all-India general secretary and her heir-apparent Abhishek.
Keeping in mind that the rally was to send across a message of harmony to the state and beyond its geographical boundaries, Mamata started the rally with different religious heads. Her party colleagues including Abhishek, state ministers Sujit Basu, Javed Ahmed Khan, Bidhannagar mayor Krishna Chakraborty, Calcutta Municipal Corporation councilors Ananya Banerjee and Kajari Bandyopadhyay fell behind the lead row where Mamata occupied the centre falnked by religious figures. State minister Aroop Biswas and Rasbehari MLA Debashis Kumar were also present at the rally.
“My religion has not taught me to accept and embrace a place of worship whether it be a MANDIR, MASJID, CHURCH or GURUDWARA, which has been built over HATRED, VIOLENCE and the dead bodies of innocents. Period!,” Abhishek posted on the social media site X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday evening.
Near the Hazra Law College, the rally had a brief stopover, while Mamata hopped on to a scooty to visit a gurdwara at Garcha. She entered the Gurudwara premises with her head covered in obeisance to Sikh traditions.
Six minutes later Mamata stepped out of the gurudwara. Her next two halts were at a church and a mosque at Park Circus, where she was scheduled to address a public meeting.
Earlier in the day, Bengal Assembly leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari participated in a march to the Ram Mandir on Central Avenue.
“Saffron sunami (sic) in Kolkata. Sanatani Shova-Yatra from Shri Baikunth Nath Temple to Shri Ram Temple to honour Lord Ram’s homecoming at Shri Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya Dham. What a day, what a moment. We have waited for this moment for centuries. Jai Shri Ram,” Adhikari wrote on his X handle.
