Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will visit Kalighat temple and offer puja on Monday, the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. “I will do a rally on 22 January. It will begin from Kali Mandir, where only I will visit to offer prayers to Maa Kaali.
Following that, we will hold an interfaith rally from Hazra to Park Circus Maidan and hold a meeting there. We will cover mosques, temples, churches, and gurdwaras along the way. Everybody is welcome to join the rally. People of all faiths will be there at the rally,” she said from Nabanna, the state secretariat. She then went on to add, “Many people have been asking me about various temples but I have nothing to say.
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I have always said ‘Dhorma Jaar Jaar, Utsob Shobaar’ (religion is a personal, while festivals are for everyone). She is calling her march as “Sampriti Rally”, adding, “On the same day, my party members will hold a rally in every block, in every district at 3pm.” Hindu seers, like the Shankaracharyas of Puri and Uttarakhand have distanced themselves from the event at Ayodhya, saying that the manner it is being conducted is not in proper order. “The pran-pratishtha should be performed by religious leaders, the saints.
I have heard what they have to say on the issue. I respect their views,” she said. Mamata later said, “From 20 January till Feb 12, we will hold camps in every polling station where three of our officers will be present. People can give their names if they haven’t been able to avail of our welfare schemes. This will be under the banner of Jono Sanjog programme.”