Assembly elections are due in West Bengal next year. There is already a stir on the election there. Where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in the campaign to feed lotus there, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) does not want to loose its hold on power under any circumstances. After the alleged attack on Hindus in Bangladesh, the political significance of Ram Navami before the next year's election in Bengal seems to be increasing.
Bangladesh has become very important in the state this year due to many alleged incidents of violence against Hindus and now elections in West Bengal after the coup in August last year. The Ram Navami ceremony seems to be changing in the political battle region as there is a competition between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the main opposition BJP in the state for polarization and retaliation polarization.
Prior to the next year's assembly elections in West Bengal, the BJP is trying to unite Hindu votes and the party has made the Ram Navami festival a part of its campaign and made an important focal point.
Preparations have been made to take out a procession in all the blocks of the entire state for a week -long Ram Navami celebrations starting from April 6 by Hinduist organizations like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). During this time a target has also been set to collect more than 3 crore people.
BJP leaders claim that such processions will serve as a symbolic demonstration against 'incidents of attacks on Hindus' and 'politics of appeasement' of TMC.
Union Minister and BJP's West Bengal Unit President Sukant Majumdar said, "The attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh are going to open the eyes of the people present on this side (in India). If we do not resist it right now, then this can be the condition of Hindus in West Bengal due to TMC's appeasement politics."
He also alleged, "In West Bengal, Hindus are already facing similar attacks of Trinamool Party -backed jihadis." He says this year's Ram Navami celebrations will be an 'answer' to such atrocities. State Secretary of VHP Chandra Nath Das also shows political importance of Ramnavami celebrations.
He counted 3 important reasons for this, first- Bengali devotees join the Mahakumbh Mela in a record number of Mahakumbh Mela, and to visit the Ram temple in Ayodhya, second-Bangladesh's harassment victims of many Hindus with their relatives, third- The state government has increased innovation against the policies of the state government. He said that this year's Ram Navami has given people a chance to express his anger and protest.
Similarly, a senior RSS official said on the condition of anonymity, "Every action has a similar and opposite reaction. If there are attacks on Hindus of Bangladesh and West Bengal, then there will be a reaction. If we celebrate Ram Navami on a large scale here, Hindus will be comforted in Bangladesh that the atrocities on them have not been ignored.
Last year, about one thousand processions were taken out on the occasion of Ram Navami in West Bengal. This year, these processions will also be taken out from rural areas. In this way, more than 3 thousand processions are likely to be taken out this time.
According to VHP sources, more than 35-35 thousand people are estimated to be involved in at least 100 procession, while more than 50 thousand people are expected to be involved in many processions.
However, the ruling TMC in the state is angry with this and he reaches the BJP and accuses the BJP of using religion as a political tool.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh dismissed the views of BJP and several Hinduist organizations, saying, "The people here will not accept those who do politics in the name of religion."
Party MP Saugat Roy also criticized the BJP's alleged efforts of polarization of voters, claiming, "BJP is deliberately using religious festivals to spoil the communal harmony of West Bengal. BJP people want to divide people here before the election."
In recent years, communal clashes have also taken place in many places during the procession on the occasion of Ram Navami in West Bengal. In the year 2018, a large -scale violence erupted in Asansol, in which many people were killed. A similar communal tension was seen in Murshidabad, Howrah and Malda districts in 2019, 2022 and 2023.
