As Mamata Banerjee opens Jagannath temple in Digha, political row erupts

KOLKATA: As West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee oversaw the consecration ceremony at the new Jagannath temple in the beach town of Digha in East Midnapore district, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress launched a fresh attack on her.

Built by the state as a cultural centre at a cost of around ₹250 crore, the structure is a replica of the ancient temple of Lord Jagannath, an incarnation of Vishnu, at Odisha’s Puri town, 344 km away.

“I dedicate this temple to the people. Let this be a place of pilgrimage for thousands of years. Let us pray for peace and harmony,” Banerjee said on Wednesday while the gates were opened for the public after the consecration.

A few kilometres away, BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the legislative assembly, launched a four-day Hindu religious conference at Kanthi town around the same time.

“Mamata Banerjee is passing off a cultural centre as a temple. People are having fish and meat out there and walking around in shoes. She is a fake Hindu. She attends the namaz on Eid at Kolkata’s Red Road with her head covered,” Adhikari told the media.

The Jagannath temple at Puri is worshipped for centuries by Hindus as one of the Char Dhams (four abodes) of Lord Vishnu.

Located by the Bay of Bengal, Digha and Puri also draw tourists by the millions. Banerjee said during the inauguration that the new temple is part of a tourism project and it would be handed over to the Iskcon after the consecration.

Opposition leaders, however, targeted Banerjee, saying she was trying to woo the Hindu voters, who comprise around 70% of Bengal’s population, before the 2026 assembly polls.

Former state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said: “Lord Jagannath is always alive but our Didi (elder sister) insists on putting life in him. Why doesn’t she sit on the altar as a Goddess? Why is she making fun of Hindu sentiments? She also landed at the Eid namaz on Red Road. BJP and Didi are in a competition.”

Construction of the Digha temple started in 2019 after BJP set a record in Bengal by winning 18 of the state’s 42 Lok Sabha seats. Although the BJP’s tally came down to 12 last year, the party still poses a challenge to TMC in north Bengal and the districts bordering Bangladesh.

In Murshidabad, one of the border districts where Muslims comprise 66% of the population, Bengal’s highest, two Hindus were killed in communal attacks on April 12 amid protests against the new Waqf law.

On Wednesday, BJP workers in Murshidabad held pujas and started renovating nine temples that they said were ransacked during the violence. BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar visited these areas last week.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said BJP leaders were targeting Banerjee for no reason. “A temple is for all people and it is above all parties. BJP is politicising it because it cannot win the 2026 polls,” said Ghosh.

Political science professor Udayan Bandopadhyay said building the temple was an act of compulsion by Banerjee. “The religious narrative has been set by the Sangh Parivar in such a way that it is practically impossible for any party in India to stay out of it. If one party builds a temple, another party is compelled to follow suit. For Mamata Banerjee, this was a compulsion in my opinion,” said Bandopadhyay.

In a surprise move, former state BJP president Dilip Ghosh, under whose leadership the party secured 18 Bengal Lok Sabha seats in 2019, landed at the Digha temple with his newly married wife. The couple was greeted by Banerjee and her cabinet ministers.

In 2019, Ghosh mocked the temple project saying, “After appeasing Muslims for years, Mamata Banerjee is building the temple to fulfil her obligation towards Hindus but money from government exchequer cannot be spent to build places of worship.”

The scenario was quite different on Wednesday.

Asked about his surprise visit, Ghosh said, “Lord Jagannath is for all. I was invited. I have come to offer my prayers.”

The Bengal BJP immediately distanced itself from Ghosh. “Many of us were invited but we stayed away after watching Hindus being attacked in Murshidabad. Ghosh took a personal decision that our party does not endorse,” Sukanta Majumdar said.