Ram Navami processions sweep Bengal; Trinamool competes with BJP in organising processions

People take part in a religious procession on the occasion of Ram Navami, in Siliguri, West Bengal, April 6, 2025
| Photo Credit: PTI

Ram Navami processions were organised across the length and breadth of West Bengal with heightened aggression on Sunday (April 6, 2025) and at certain places leaders of the Trinamool Congress also organised and participated in such rallies.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other Hindutva groups organised hundreds of processions with almost every leader from Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, State president Sukanta Majumdar, Dilip Ghosh and Locket Chatterjee, among others leading processions across different parts of the State.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was among the first to congratulate the people on Ram Navami on social media on Sunday (April 6, 2025) morning. “I appeal to all to maintain and uphold the values of peace, prosperity and development of all. I wish the celebration of the Ram Navami all success, in a peaceful manner,” Ms. Banerjee posted on X.

Mr. Adhikari, who inaugurated a Ram Temple at his constituency Nandigram, said the Chief Minister should not remind people to “uphold values of peace” on Ram Navami.

Trinamool Congress MLA from Jorasanko Vivek Gupta, party state general secretary Kunal Ghosh organised Ram Navami processions in the city. In Howrah’s Salkia, Trinamool Congress MLA Gautam Chowdhury participated in a rally organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Even in districts like Jalpaiguri and Birbhum, Trinamool Congress leaders took out Ram Navami processions. “Ram Navami processions do not mean BJP. Most of the Hindus are against BJP. Those who have joined Ram Navami processions are not in support of the BJP,” Mr. Kunal Ghosh said.

Ram Navami processions, a cultural import to the State, have coincided with the rise of hindutva politics in the State, which started in 2016. These processions have become a show of strength for the BJP. On Sunday (April 6, 2025), while the BJP leadership and their allies left no stone unturned for canvassing their support base through Ram Navami processions, the Trinamool leadership tried to compete with the hindutva forces.

Scenes of amity

Amidst the competitive Ram Navami rallies, there were signs of communal amity, where Muslims came forward and showered flower petals and offered food, drinks to those who participated in Ram Navami processions. Malda Uttar BJP MP Khagen Murmu was seen exchanging greetings with Muslims who welcomed the processions. This was in sharp contrast to developments in earlier years, where often Ram Navami processions had precipitated violence.

In 2024, there was a crude bomb explosion at the Shaktipur area in Murshidabad district during a Ram Navami procession. Prior to this in 2023, violence broke out in Howrah’s Shibpur and Rishra in Hooghly and Dalkhola in north Bengal area during a Ram Navami procession.

The Trinamool Congress from its official X handle highlighted how Bengal bore witness to a celebration of unity and brotherhood on the occasion of Ram Navami, describing it as the vision of the Chief Minister.

The processions of Ram Navami also witnessed youths brandishing weapons across the State. Participants in the processions were seen holding tridents, knives, swords, axes, and machetes in Suri, Barasat, Howrah, Kankinara and Berhampore. Videos aired by local television channels and circulated on social media showed minors brandishing weapons.

Political observers and social scientists said the number of Ram Navami processions in 2025 were higher in number than previous years. Massive Ram Navami processions were observed from Singur in Hooghly district to Naxalbari in Darjeeling district — areas where the Hindutva politics has not made much imprint in the past few years. At Jadavpur University, considered a seat of Left students politics, some students organised Ram Navami celebrations and worshipped an idol of Lord Ram.

Subha Protim Roy Chaudhury, associated with an organisation AMRA, who has been studying conflict during Ram Navami processions over the past few years, said that even in villages like Malda and Murshidabad, processions of Ram Navami were organised this year. Mr. Roy Choudhury said the processions would not end in a day and would continue throughout the month and culminate with the Chief Minister inaugurating Jagannath Temple in Digha.