West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Jagannath Temple Inauguration In Digha Is Just A Poll Ploy

Mamata Banerjee’s outreach to the Hindu community in the form of the mega Jagannath temple inauguration in the coastal town of Digha is clearly aimed at the 2026 Assembly election in West Bengal. In the wake of the violent protests over the Waqf law and the alleged persecution of Hindus in Murshidabad district, a narrative peddled by the BJP, the Trinamul Congress supremo went all out to promote the Jagannath temple opening. Just as Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the pran pratistha of the Ayodhya temple in January 2024 in the hope of electoral dividends in the Lok Sabha polls, Mamata oversaw the temple inauguration with an eye on the forthcoming election in her state. The West Bengal chief minister has been accused time and again by the BJP of minority appeasement. With a 30 per cent Muslim population that has so far overwhelmingly voted for the Trinamul Congress, it is no surprise that the state government has done a great deal for minorities in West Bengal. However, the BJP’s constant narrative of Hindus being neglected and persecuted in the state forced Mamata Banerjee to take matters in hand and orchestrate a grand gesture that would appease Hindus too. Hence, the Jagannath dham consecration. The temple, built on a sprawling campus of 22 acres, is a replica of the Jagannath Puri temple and has been completely funded by the state government. It has run into fierce opposition from the Odisha government and the servitors of the Puri temple over its nomenclature because there are supposedly only four dhams identified by the Adi Sankaracharya, namely, Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameshwaram. There have also been accusations of pilfering wood used for the Puri Jagannath idol. The Opposition Congress and the BJP targeted the Trinamul supremo, accusing her of wooing Hindus ahead of next year’s election.  

A moment to be cherished forever.

The first glimpse of Lord Jagannath enshrined in the Garbhagriha of the Jagannath Temple in Digha will remain etched in my heart.

I felt my spirit stir with the divine radiance emanating from the sacred idol. I had the privilege of performing… pic.twitter.com/EYLaTycYaN

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) April 30, 2025

The temple has been built by the West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO), whose vice chairman sent out the invitations for the consecration ceremony. The chairman, Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim, was conspicuously absent from the ceremony, as were other Muslim ministers in Mamata’s cabinet. The Puri temple strictly bans non-Hindus (even Indira Gandhi was once kept out because of her marriage to a Parsi), but in an attempt at inclusivity, the Digha complex has a separate enclosure for non-Hindus to view the idol. Electoral compulsions may have forced Mamata to make a song and dance about the temple consecration, but it goes against the grain of a secular government’s chief minister to preside over a religious ceremony. All those in the INDIA alliance, who objected to Narendra Modi’s role in the Ayodhya temple consecration, must also criticise the Trinamul supremo. Whether it is joining namaaz on the historic Red Road in Kolkata or being part of the temple inauguration, religion cannot be part of state policy. It is a deeply personal issue, and politicians must not cash in on public sentiment to promote a particular faith. India’s secular democracy is under severe test. It is imperative that its leaders show a degree of statesmanship and preserve its noble ideals. Elections come and go, but the country’s constitutional principles live forever.