West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) “is anti-women” as it talks about Lord Ram but not about Goddess Sita. Banerjee’s statement came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Ram temple in Ayodhya and led the rituals of the Pran Pratishtha ceremony there.
Banerjee, who spearheaded the TMC’s ‘Sanhati Rally’ on the day of Ram temple Pran Pratishtha ceremony, said, “They (BJP) talk about Lord Ram, but what about Goddess Sita? She was all along with Lord Ram during his exile. They don’t speak about her as they are anti-women.”
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“We are worshippers of Goddess Durga, so they should not try to lecture us about religion,” the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief was quoted by PTI as saying in Kolkata on Monday.
As the grand consecration ceremony took place at Ayodhya Ram temple, Mamata Banerjee began the all-faith harmony rally in Kolkata on Monday. The TMC chief, accompanied by religious leaders of various faiths and party leaders, began the ‘Sanghati March’ from Hazra More.
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Clad in her trademark white and blue bordered cotton sari with a shawl wrapped around her neck, Banerjee greeted people and onlookers on both sides of the road with folded hands. “As thousands of people join this rally uniting all communities, the message ‘Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava’ resonates across the city!” the TMC tweeted.
Banerjee began the rally after offering puja and prayers at the iconic Kalighat temple in the city. During the Sanhati Rally, she also made a visit to a church at Park Circus “symbolising shared commitment to unity”, the TMC said in a tweet.
Speaking at the event, Banerjee said, “I don’t care who worships whom. I have a problem with the unemployment in the country. Where has the country’s money gone?…”
Meanwhile, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee was quoted by ANI as saying, “Today is a proud day for Bengal. While the whole country is engaged in a religious program, the people of Bengal are standing together on the road, praying for peace. Bengal does not do politics of religion, we have only one religion, and that is- service should be provided to all.”
The consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya was held after the first phase of the temple’s construction. It was made possible by a Supreme Court judgment in 2019 on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit. The Hindu litigants argued that the Babri Mosque was constructed at the site of a temple marking the birthplace of Lord Ram. In 1992, the 16th-century mosque was demolished by “kar sevaks”.
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