Ram Navami rallies in Bengal used as campaign platforms by BJP and Trinamool

KOLKATA

With Assembly polls around the corner, both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) took part in Ram Navami celebrations on Thursday (March 26, 2026), with rallies that took over Kolkata and Howrah, and which doubled up as poll campaign platforms. BJP supporters held pujas at top universities in the city, including Calcutta University and Jadavpur University.

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari led a Ram Navami rally clad in orange and holding a flag in Bhawanipur, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s home constituency, where he is contesting against the Trinamool chairperson. 

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Mr. Adhikari took to the streets of Bhawanipur on foot, holding his banner and calling for “Ram Rajya” in West Bengal.

“We want jobs in hand, food in the belly, roof over the head, good governance, and protection for women,” Mr. Adhikari said during the rally as he met voters along the route; the religious procession working as his poll campaign.

On the other hand, ruling TMC leaders Kunal Ghosh and Madan Mitra also took part in separate Ram Navami programmes; both have been fielded as candidates by the party.

Mr. Ghosh was seen leading a Ram Navami rally in Bidhan Sarani, while Mr. Mitra celebrated the festival in Dunlop on the outskirts of Kolkata. 

“This is not a Hindi rashtra; people have the freedom to celebrate any festival here,” Mr. Mitra said. 

BJP also held Ram Navami processions in various parts of Howrah. The party’s candidate Rudranil Ghosh, held a rally in his constituency in Shibpur. 

Police and central forces have been deployed in large numbers across the State to deal with any issues during the rallies.

Ram Navami at universities 

Two prestigious universities in Kolkata, Calcutta University (CU) and Jadavpur University (JU), witnessed their own Ram Navami celebrations on Thursday.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the BJP, organised a Ram Navami puja inside the JU campus in south Kolkata, and right outside the CU gate in north Kolkata.

Tensions rose in JU as ABVP supporters raised Jai Shri Ram slogans inside the campus and organised two separate pujas inside the institute. A massive police presence was seen inside the campus.

Students at the college raised slogans against the ABVP and the rise of communal forces on campus.

On the other hand, the Ram Navami organisers outside CU vowed that they would “create the conditions that would allow them to celebrate Ram Navami inside JU and CU in the coming years.”