The TMC on Sunday left no proverbial stone unturned to hijack Ram Navami celebrations in Bengal, participating in rallies across the state to counter the BJP’s efforts to make use of the religious event to polarise and consolidate Hindu votes ahead of next year’s Assembly polls.

From TMC’s block-level leaders to its MPs and MLAs, many hit the streets — some in saffron attire — in Calcutta and various districts, chanting Jai Shri Ram.

A source in TMC said that although its leaders had participated in Ram Navami rallies earlier, this time a significantly larger number of the party’s rank and file joined in to send out a clear message — that Ram doesn’t belong to the BJP. This strategy deflated the BJP’s plans to push the narrative that Mamata Banerjee and her party were against the celebrations.

“In some cases, our leaders organised the processions, in many others, our MPs and MLAs joined the saffron camp’s celebrations to show that the party has no objection to any religious event. Who said Ram belongs only to the BJP?” said a senior TMC leader in Calcutta, adding that such active participation from party workers helped avoid tensions that the BJP had allegedly intended to spark.

The BJP and Sangh Parivar planned a massive celebration of Ram Navami in Bengal, organising 2,000 rallies across the state as part of their goal to consolidate extra 5-6 per cent of Hindu votes in a bid to defeat Mamata Banerjee.

Senior BJP leaders, including the leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and state party president Sukanta Majumdar, had been actively promoting the narrative of “the TMC’s minority appeasement” in an attempt to woo Hindu voters. It fell flat on Sunday.

Adhikari, however, claimed that the Mamata-led government left no stone unturned to disrupt the celebrations. “Hindus have always celebrated their festivals peacefully. But the way the Mamata Banerjee government prepared for a war-like situation is condemnable. She says religion is personal, but celebration is universal. I say religion is personal and we all have to protect it,” he said.

TMC leaders who participated in Ram Navami celebrations included Birbhum MP Satabdi Roy, who joined a procession unofficially organised by her party. State general secretary Kunal Ghosh took part in a rally in Calcutta organised by the north Calcutta unit of the TMC youth wing, where people from all major religions participated. Howrah Uttar MLA Gautam Chowdhury joined a procession organised by the Sangh Parivar in Howrah’s Salkia.

Muslim leaders from the TMC such as Canning Purba MLA Saokat Molla and Birbhum zilla parishad chief Sheikh Kajal participated in the celebrations. They said their goal was to promote brotherhood and harmony.

Contacted, TMC leader Ghosh said: “It is not that every Hindu is a BJP voter or that Ram belongs to the BJP. Anyone can join the celebrations. This isn’t something new.”

Countering this, BJP leaders said people have understood that TMC leaders joined the Ram Navami celebrations out of fear of losing Hindu support. “Ram forced the TMC to hit the streets. We welcome everyone to celebrate Ram Navami. We even welcome Mamata Banerjee to join the processions. Our goal is to create a Ram-oriented society. The vision is taking shape,” said BJP Rajya Sabha member Samik Bhattacharya.