Chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her party are all set to reignite their push to reach out to Hindu voters with Friday's grand Rath Yatra in Digha, less than two months after the April 30 inauguration of a Puri-like shrine in the seaside town of East Midnapore.
Mamata, who reached Digha on Wednesday — two days before the event — to oversee preparations, will inaugurate Digha’s first-ever Rath Yatra, which will begin from the main gate of the Jagannath temple on Friday.
Ramnagar decked up for Friday’s Rath Yatra
A source said wooing Hindu voters has become a strategic priority for the Trinamool Congress after the BJP launched a comprehensive campaign to consolidate Hindu support ahead of next year’s Assembly elections.
Understanding the BJP’s strategy, Mamata chose the Jagannath temple as a symbolic tool to counter the BJP's narrative of minority appeasement by the TMC. On several occasions, including speeches in the Assembly, Mamata has asserted that she comes from a Hindu family.
Ahead of the Rath Yatra, the Bengal government launched a door-to-door campaign distributing prasad and photographs of Jagannath, particularly targeting Hindu households.
BJP leaders strongly opposed the prasad distribution, accusing the government of involving Muslims in the preparation of the sweets, which were later distributed as prasad.
BJP workers were instructed to actively participate in Rath Yatra celebrations in their respective areas. At a temple in Tamluk on Friday, leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari organised the distribution of mahaprasad from Puri's 12th-century shrine. Tamluk is around 100km from Digha.
“We have always observed Rath Yatra and mahaprasad from Puri will be distributed this time. It’s interesting to see Mamata Banerjee now trying to appear Hindu,” said Adhikari.
Since the temple’s inauguration, Adhikari — who often boasts of defeating Mamata in Nadigram — has claimed the Jagannath temple is a government-sponsored research centre, not a religious shrine.
Political scientists, however, believe that while Mamata’s move may not fully counter Hindu voter consolidation, it could slow down the momentum.
“Mamata Banerjee has wisely chosen to woo Hindu voters rather than alienate them. While this may not completely stop the consolidation drive launched by the saffron camp, it could help slow its pace ahead of the Assembly elections,” said political scientist Biswanath Chakraborty.
“In Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav and his party ran a ‘Muslims are in danger’ campaign in response to the BJP’s Hindutva politics. Here, Mamata is doing the exact opposite,” added Chakraborty.
A source in the TMC said that people from nearly every district in Bengal were expected to join the Rath Yatra, prompting the administration to estimate a footfall of around 2 lakh. The state government has already launched at least 12 new bus services from various districts to improve transportation for pilgrims.
“We have taken all necessary measures to ensure a grand Rath Yatra in Digha. Robust crowd management plans are in place to handle around two lakh pilgrims,” said East Midnapore district magistrate Purnendu Maji.
From Kolaghat to Digha, the 116-km stretch has been decorated with large posters and flex banners of the Digha temple, the Rath and Mamata. Thousands of saffron flags bearing images of Jagannath are fluttering.
Besides Digha, the TMC leadership has instructed party workers to celebrate the festival in their respective areas and participate in local Rath Yatras on June 27.
A source said that with around two lakh people expected to attend the Rath Yatra in Digha, the administration's biggest challenge would be managing the crowd and preventing any untoward incident.
“The road is narrow, which is why we’ve taken several measures, including setting up six holding points to accommodate large crowds. The distance the three chariots will travel is less than one kilometre, and a massive police deployment is in place. Ten sergeants from Kolkata Police will also be deployed to help with crowd control,” said a senior district official.