Kolkata:
A newly built temple dedicated to Lord Jagannath in the coastal town of Digha in West Bengal has become the centre of a political flashpoint between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s government and the BJP.
The BJP has called Ms Banerjee a “fake Hindu”, stating that government funds cannot be used for building temples.
“Puri Dham will remain Puri Dham. Mamata Banerjee is a fake Hindu. Temples can’t be built using government funds. It is a cultural centre, not a temple. Don’t mislead the people of Bengal. Hindus make temples on their own. No government fund was used to build the Ram temple (in Ayodhya). Hindus across the world funded it,” said BJP leader and the Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.
Mr Adhikari also called Ms Banerjee an “anti-Hindu”, who is responsible for the “migration” of Hindus from Murshidabad, where violent clashes were reported during protests against the Waqf law.
Union Minister and Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar echoed similar views on Ms Banerjee and said that building temples is not the job of the government. Raising the Murshidabad issue, he said, “On one side, you are killing Hindus, and on the other side, you are constructing temples. Constructing temples or mosques is not the job of the government. The public built the Ayodhya temple, not the government.”
“For the Jagannath Temple in Digha, people should raise funds. Why does the state government have to get involved in this? Mamata Banerjee is trying to win the elections by climbing on the shoulders of Lord Jagannath,” the BJP MP told reporters.
The attacks drew a fierce counter from the Trinamool with party MP Kalyan Banerjee saying that the BJP considers only those as Hindu who chant “Jai Shree Ram”.
Slamming Mr Adhikari, he said, “Is he a real Hindu? According to the BJP’s Hinduism, the Hindus of West Bengal who follow the Hindus of Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, eat veg and say ‘Jai Shree Ram’ are Santani Hindus.”
Another party leader, Kunal Ghosh, pointed out that Ms Banerjee belongs to the Hindu Brahmin community, and being secular, she respects all religions. He also sought to know why Mr Adhikari did not think about this when he and his family members were in the Trinamool.
“Mamata Banerjee belongs to a Brahmin Hindu family, and she is secular; she respects other religions. Suvendu Adhikari, his father and his brother were with Mamata Banerjee for so many days. Suvendu Adhikari was an MLA, MP and a minister from Trinamool, but he did not think about all this back then,” said Mr Ghosh.
Modelled after the 12th-century Puri temple, situated about 350 km away in Odisha, Digha’s Jagannath shrine will be inaugurated by Ms Banerjee on Wednesday. The temple has been built by the state-run Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) at a cost of Rs 250 crore over 20 acres land.
Heavy security is in place at the temple, including police in civil dress and drone surveillance, ahead of its opening in Digha. A maha-yagna is underway at the shrine that will be attended by the Chief Minister in the afternoon along with other dignitaries.
Digha is Bengal’s most popular sea resort that attracts a huge number of tourists round the year. The town is located in Purba Medinipur district, the fortress of Mr Adhikari, a former lieutenant of Ms Banerjee.
The Chief Minister had expressed hope that the temple would help Digha transform into an international tourist destination. For several thousand years, the temple would serve as a place for the congregation of people, she had said.
“This temple will add a new feather to the state’s cap. Digha will grow into an international tourist attraction. This will serve as a place of harmony. The sea adds a special charm to Digha. If it becomes a place of pilgrimage, more tourists will come,” the Trinamool chief had said.
