Ram Navami celebrations passed off peacefully across West Bengal on Sunday, except for a few instances of heated verbal duels between rival politicians at some places even as both BJP and Trinamool Congress supporters participated enthusiastically in the festivities.
Around 2,500 processions - including about 65 in Kolkata - were held across the eastern State, spanning Asansol to Kharagpur to Siliguri, to North Dinahpur to Nandigram and Bankura and Howrah, sources said.
The rallies were held under the banner of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Anjaniputra Sena, Hindu Jagaran Manch and other Hindu organisations even as traditional Bengali elite or Bhadralok - like authors Nrisinha Prasad Bhaduri, Pabitra Sarkar - wondered whether a new north Indian culture was being imported into the renaissance State where "worship of Mother Goddess in the form of Durga, Kali, Saraswati, Laxmi, Shitala or Manasha is the norm".
A vibrant mix of religious fervour and political mobilisation was witnessed as lakhs of devotees apart from senior BJP and TMC leaders poured out on to the streets, with a few carrying weapons and others the cutouts of Lord Ram in Kolkata.
Even as communal temperatures increased in the run-up to the Ram Navami festival, leaders of both the TMC and BJP jointly participated in religious processions in Birbhum and some other places. Members of the Muslim community distributed sweets and water to participants in the religious procession in Malda where communal riots broke out a few days ago.
Many Bengali devotees rued that amid the fanfare ahead of Ram Navami, Basanti Puja - another form of Durga Puja - and Annapurna Puja seem to have lost sheen this year round.
"Winds from Uttar Pradesh are entering Bengal and soon the Jihadis and their appeaser Mamata Banerjee will understand what the Hindu Santanis can do if disturbed beyond limits," State Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari said.
He laid the foundation stone of a Ram Temple at Nandigram in East Midnapore before leading a huge rally at Mecheda in East Midnapore district.
"More than 2 crore people had come out on the streets to celebrate Ram Navami … this is a signal enough that the indus have risen against Mamata Banerjee's politics of appeasement … this is a proof that she is going out of power," he said, adding that "I always do something with a goal … in 2011, I played a role in ousting the Left Front Government … in 2021, I defeated Mamata in Nandigram and now I am on the streets to unite the Sanatanis."
Adhikari, clad in saffron, led a rally to the proposed temple site in Sonachura amid chants of "Jai Shri Ram" (Victory to Lord Rama).
Greeting the people the Chief Minister wrote "Greetings to all on the auspicious occasion of Ram Navami. I appeal to all to maintain and uphold the value of peace prosperity and development of all."
On a relatively peaceful celebrations unlike the previous two years that witnessed a number of communal riots Adhikari said, "there was no disturbance because the Police had convinced jihadis to remain indoors … because this time they would have received a treatment if they had committed any mischief."
Former State BJP president Dilip Ghosh led a massive rally at Kharagpur displaying his lathi skills while other crowd pullers like Mithun Chakrabarty joined a one lakh strong procession at Barasat in North 24 Parganas. State BJP president Sukanto Majumdar led a rally from Shibpur while another BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya led a procession via Kazipara and Howrah Foreshore Road.
Incidentally the two most striking departures from the regular practice that was witnessed on Sunday both the BJP and TMC leaders jointly celebrating the festival in parts of Birbhum. "This is a religion of unity and brotherhood there is no politics in it so we have come out together," said Birbhum district leader Bikash Roychowdhury.
Similarly at Bhangar in South 24 Parganas TMC's Muslim face and MLA Saukat Molla led a long saffron procession even as his Muslim followers chanted Jai Shri Ram. Far off in Malda where houses were vandalized during a recent communal riot Muslim youth were seen distributing sweets and water to the rallyists.
However the most striking departure from the regular tradition was the observance of Ram Navami inside Jadavpur University campus where the members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad organized a Ram Puja just in front of a graffiti where some alleged ultra Left wing supports had written a slogan of Azad Kashmir.
