KOLKATA: CM Mamata
Banerjee
will lead an all-faith '
Sampriti
rally' in Kolkata on January 22, the day PM Narendra Modi is scheduled to consecrate the
Ram Mandir
in Ayodhya.
"Pran pratishtha (consecration of idols) is not our work. This is the work of purohits and seers and, in other religions, of imams and priests. Our work is to develop
infrastructure
," Banerjee said on Tuesday.
Trinamool leaders have over the last few days quoted Puri Shankaracharya
Swami Nischalananda
Saraswati to ask why a "political leader" would be doing the pran pratishtha of "an incomplete temple".
The rally, for which Banerjee has invited all "right-thinking people and well-wishers", will cover over 3.5 kms from Hazra to Park Circus Maidan and start after the CM pays obeisance to Goddess Kali at the Kalighat temple. Participants would walk along mandirs, masjids, gurudwaras and churches, Banerjee said.
"Like January 23 and January 26, we have a programme on January 22 as well; this is our party programme. I will go on a rally myself. I will first go to Kali Mandir (this is not for everyone). People from all faiths will be in this rally, which will start with Ma Kali's blessings," she added.
Asked about the timing of the Sampriti rally on January 22, CM Mamata Banerjee insisted it was "not a counter, not a protest". "I listen to what saints and seers say. This is about all religions because the very next day is Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's birth anniversary, which we will celebrate as well," she said, adding that Trinamool workers would have a "Sampriti Michhil" in every district and block at 3 pm on January 22.
"You keep asking me on temples. I have nothing to say on this (the Ram Mandir ceremony). I always say religion is personal, festivals are for everyone," Banerjee said. "They talk big about religion, that I do not allow Durga Puja; earlier they said I did not allow Saraswati Puja," she said, reminding everyone that Durga Puja in Bengal had now been declared a Unesco intangible cultural heritage.
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