West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the construction site of the Jagannath temple in Digha, east Midnapore, on Wednesday. The temple is being built to resemble the one in Puri, Odisha. She announced that the temple would be inaugurated in April 2025 and that the Rathayatra ceremony would follow the same style as the one in Puri.
Mamata also revealed a 13-member trustee board to manage the temple, which will include bureaucrats, an ISKCON representative, and a member from Sanatan Dharma, a group of Hindu religious sects.
The board will be led by the state’s chief secretary. Radharaman Das, the vice president of ISKCON Kolkata, will represent ISKCON on the board. An official with the rank of additional district magistrate will be appointed to manage tourism at the temple.
Mamata’s visit and the announcement of the trustee board, which includes an ISKCON monk, are seen as politically important. Analysts believe this move is meant to counter the BJP’s appeal to Hindu voters, especially in light of the recent attacks on minorities in Bangladesh.
Radharaman has been vocal in protesting the arrest of ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das in Bangladesh and the mistreatment of minorities there. The BJP has been focusing on these issues to strengthen its position among Hindu voters in Bengal, staging protests at the borders and highlighting the unrest in Bangladesh.
A senior TMC leader stated that despite BJP’s efforts, Mamata still enjoys the support of many Hindus in Bengal. The inclusion of Radharaman in the trustee board is seen as a strategy to retain Hindu support ahead of the elections.
Mamata also announced that the state government had spent Rs 250 crore on the temple’s construction. She pledged to donate Rs 5 lakh from her personal funds for a broom needed for the Rathayatra ceremony.
The BJP criticised Mamata for using taxpayer money to build the temple. Leader of Opposition Subhendu Adhikari said the funds should be used for public welfare, not for religious politics.
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