"Will Cover Mosques, Temples, Churches, Gurdwaras": Mamata Banerjee To Hold Interfaith Rally On Ram Mandir Inauguration Day

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee announced on Tuesday (16 January) that she will be conducting a rally on 22 January in Kolkata.

This rally appears to be in response to the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony which is scheduled for the same day in Ayodhya as Banerjee revealed her plans to "cover mosques, temples, churches, and gurdwaras."

Banerjee will start by offering prayers to Goddess Kali at Kali Mandir, followed by an interfaith rally from Hazra to Park Circus Maidan, where a meeting will be held.

ANI quoted Mamata Banerjee as saying, "We will cover mosques, temples, churches, and gurdwaras along the way. Everybody is welcome to join the rally. On the same day, my party members will hold a rally in every block, in every district at 3 pm."

This is not the first time that TMC is trying to pit Goddess Kali against Lord Ram. TMC has indirectly mentioned many times that Lord Ram is a North Indian god, while Goddess Kali is whom they worship in Bengal.

During the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, Mamata Banerjee said, "Lord Ram used to worship Maa Durga because she is much bigger in stature."

Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee had claimed in 2019 that Ram's TRP is going down and Ma Kali's TRP is going up due to the TMC supremo.

Another controversy erupted in 2022 when the now-expelled TMC MP Mahua Moitra described Goddess Kali as  “meat-eating, alcohol-accepting”. However, the party distanced itself from these remarks.