A rally by monks was organized in Kolkata on Friday condemning Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's recent remarks against certain monks of Ramakrishna Mission and Bharat Sevasharam Sangha.

Christened as "Sant Swabhiman Yatra," the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) along with members of the Bangiya Sanyasi Samaj, an apex body of saints in the state, held the rally from North Kolkata's Bagbazar to Shimla Street, the ancestral residence of Swami Vivekananda.

"We condemn the remarks by the honourable chief minister against us. We are pained and feel insulted by the derogatory remarks. She is not following Raj Dharma," a protesting monk said.

Senior VHP leader Sourish Mukherjee said, "Due to vote bank politics, the chief minister is making such remarks against revered institutions like Ramakrishna Mission and Bharat Sevasharam Sangha." In a recent election rally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the TMC supremo of threatening monks for vote bank politics.

Banerjee, defending her stance, had said she only criticized specific individuals of those monastic orders and not the institutions.

Modi's remarks came a day after miscreants vandalised the Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) premises in Jalpaiguri and threatened monks and other employees at gunpoint.

An RKM official suggested that a local land mafia was behind the early Sunday morning incident, which was reportedly a matter of property dispute.

The RKM has lodged a complaint at Bhaktinagar police station against a local tough and his associates.

Following Banerjee's comment, political tension intensified as both the BJP and the TMC used the development to galvanize their respective support bases ahead of the elections.

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