BJP Bid To Organise More Durga Pujas In Bengal This Year May Lead To Tensions

KOLKATA: Having flexed all its organisational muscles in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP secured 18 MPs from West Bengal; with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister, Amit Shah making almost daily trips to the state before 2021 Assembly elections, the saffron camp had 77 victorious legislators. Falling far short of the number of legislators to send Trinamool Congress state government packing, it is back to invocation of Hindutva, gods and godesses to fuel its Lok Sabha campaign next year with Shah asking state BJP leadership to secure 36 parliamentary seats from this bastion of Trinamool Congress.

After having been sharply reprimanded by its national leadership for finishing second to TMC in the recently concluded rural polls, the BJP has decided to rope in the divine to it’s aid. If launching marches in support to build a house of a god in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh fetched it nationwide electoral triumph, the saffron camp think tank sees no reason as to why West Bengal populace’s enthusiasm and devotion to Durga cannot be translated to votes for BJP in next year’s election.

Come Mahalaya day, a harbinger of West Bengal’s biggest festival Durga puja, a group of senior BJP leaders will descend on the state to kick-start the saffron party’s 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign. They will not take part in rallies, they will instead spend their time in the Durga Pujas organised by the local BJP workers.. After Ram, Durga bandana will be the focal point of the BJP campaign to win the heart of the Bengal’s voters in 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

But before that, several BJP leaders will witness offering worship to Ram in the state. Their game plan to worship both the deities is to channelise the devotion of the populace towards the divine duo to persuade the voters to exercise their franchise for the political party championing Hindutva.

With the Ram temple scheduled to be inaugurated in January next year in Ayodhya, the worship of the warrior king who has been elevated to the ranks of gods will follow the celebration of Durga Puja. In October this year.’ Whatever criticism may an atheist Left and and TMC may hurl at us, the fact remains that Lord Ram used to be the family deity of Gadadhar Chattopadhayay who is better known as Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa,, former state BJP chief Rahul Sinha said

But it will have to be a low key affair. The clutch of BJP leaders in West Bengal will find themselves being watched over by men in mufti and uniform even as the former get busy in worshipping Ram at sync with the national programme of Ram temple inauguration next year,.

Violence having broken out after taking out Ram Navami processions in the state earlier, the state law enforcement agencies will see to it that the celebrations around pujas do not ignite communal violence. Whipping up religious sentiments thereafter to be channelised into ballot boxes is the last thing TMC dispensation can afford before the crucial Lok. Sabha polls.

Four chariots or rathas will be taken out by the Bengal BJP leaders in as many parts of the state. The journeys dubbed “Sourja Jagran Yatra”s will be carefully watched over by state security agencies lest they set on fire the fuse of communal sentiments.

The apprehensions are not baseless as some BJP functionaries indicated no efforts to dim the glitter of the progress of the rathas will be tolerated. The routes along which these vehicles will pass through is not yet known but given the experience of earlier journeys of Ram rathas through mixed population areas and it’s communal fallout, the authorities are keeping their fingers crossed.

The fact is that the BJP workers will be holding more Durga Pujas this year as part of their poll campaign. There in lies the apprehension of violence. For hackles will be raised at local level as these pujas will be in competition with community pujas mostly enjoying TMC leaders patronage.

The BJP leadership will find it hard to accept what it’s participation in pujas amounts to. It is a pointer that even while running a government at the Centre under a Constitution which goes by secularism, the ruling of the centre party is flouting it, state agriculture and parliamentary affairs minister, Sovandeb Chattopadhayay said. .

What about BJP’s participation in religious festivals of other communities, the veteran leader asked. It is zero, he said.

Apart from its communal character, an ulterior motive comes to light from BJP’s sudden zeal in participation in Durga Puja worships in which it had once taken no interest, said Chattopadhayay. A sudden spurt in devotion of BJP leaders to Ram and Durga boils down to the fact that it is seeking divine intervention in its favour having conceded it’s defeat to Trinamool Congress organisation coupled with the charisma of its supremo Mamata Banerjee which has proved to be more than a match than the Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself .

Unapologetic about his party’s plans to mix religion and politics, Sinha accused TMC being the first to do the same in the state. Does not chief minister Mamata Banerjee does pandal hopping and inaugurate community pujas passing it off as mass contact exercise, he asked.

A raft of ministers of the state Cabinet like Firad Hakin and Arup Biswas are driving forces of big ticket community pujas in the city, Sinha said. Even the CPI(M) sets up book stalls at puja pandals, he points out.

But Sinha is missing the wood for the trees. The chief minister and some of her Cabinet members are involved in community pujas years before they had attained their present official stature.

The BJP’s endeavour to organise pujas is more of a knee jerk reaction to get votes than a spontaneous effort. It goes against the spirit of the biggest festival of the state which draws all residents to the puja irrespective of of caste and creed, a trait BJP organised pujas are unlikely to display.(IPA Service)