Mamata Banerjee, in her first unambiguous public response to the scheduled Ram temple inauguration at Ayodhya, said on Tuesday she believed festivals should be for everyone and suggested she had better things to do than comment on the “gimmick show” planned with an eye on the election.

At a state government event at Jaynagar in South 24-Parganas, the Bengal chief minister brought up the temple inauguration, on which her views have been sought by journalists on several occasions. Before this, she had been non-committal.

“Yesterday, they (journalists) were asking me, ‘What is your comment on the Ram temple?’ As if I have nothing else to do, just that one thing. I said, ‘Religions are personal, festivals are universal’. I believe in the festival that takes everybody along, speaks of everyone, speaks of unity,” she said, underscoring the pluralist, inclusive ethos that occupies the core of her politics.

Without naming anyone, she said: “You are doing it, go right ahead. Who is objecting to it?”

“You are doing it under the court. You are doing it for a gimmick show ahead of the election. I have no objection.”

Mamata continued: “But neglecting people of other communities cannot be somebody’s job.”

Asked whether Trinamul would be represented at the January 22 event in Ayodha, sources said that Mamata or her second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee were unlikely to be present. The sources, however, said that a couple of senior MPs would likely represent the party.

Mamata, the sources said, was wary of the propaganda overdrive to bring the temple to the centre stage ahead of the general election, sweeping the “real, pro-people” issues under the carpet.

“Trinamul Congress, for as long as it will exist, as long as its government exists, I promise you, in the name of Ishwar and Allah, remember I will never allow divisive forces to tear apart Hindu-Muslim-Sikh-Christian- SCs-STs,” she said.

“You saw the kind of movement we carried out against the (citizenship matrix), brought it to a stop,” added Mamata, who has for years tried to cement her place as a messiah-esque figure for the downtrodden, including the minorities, both as an administrator and a politician. “Bengal is the land of peace. Bengal does not divide. Bengal is the Mecca-Medina of Muslims, Dakshineswar-Belur of Hindus, Matua Thakur-Panchanan Barma-Ambedkar of SCs and STs.”

Bilkis verdict

Pointing out that Trinamul leader Mahua Moitra was among those who had filed cases against the release of 11 life convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape-and-murder case, Mamata said it was a “major victory” for Trinamul too.

On Friday, the Supreme Court quashed the release of the 11, ruling that the Gujarat government lacked the power to decide on their remission, that the process leading to their release was “vitiated” by “fraud”, and that the state government had been “complicit” with one of the convicts.

“Bilkis Bano rapists were released. Our party’s Mahua Moitra, our MP who was forcibly thrown out, she too had filed a case and was a party,” said Mamata. “This is a major victory for Trinamul Congress,, remember this… for the sake of getting people justice,” she added.

CPM politburo member Subhashini Ali and Moitra, who was controversially expelled as MP, were among those who had moved court against the release of the 11.