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Updated: Jul 04, 2019 23:35 IST

Even as people across India celebrated Lord Jagannath’s chariot ride to his aunt’s home, the festival did not pass without a smear of political rhetoric here on Thursday, the first day of the Rath Yatra.

While inaugurating the festival organised by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) in Kolkata, chief minister Mamata Banerjee ended her speech by shouting “Jai Bangla” and “Jai Hind” in the same breath as “Jai Jagannath”.

Banerjee also raised eyebrows on Thursday by having TMC’s new Basirhat MP and actress Nusrat Jahan by her side and letting her address the audience from the Iskcon chariot.

“We should all celebrate festivals without taking into account our religious beliefs. We should be able to freely speak the words of Allah and Ishwar,” said Jahan. who recently married Nikhil Jain, a businessman.

Jahan was criticised by a Muslim cleric for putting sindoor on her forehead.

Later, when Banerjee visited Mahesh in Hooghly district and pulled the century-old chariot, here too she chanted “Jai Bangla” and “Jai Hind” at the end of her speech but some youth started chanting “Jai Sri Ram” when the chariot was being pulled.

12 HURT IN CLASHES

Meanwhile, at least 12 people were injured in sporadic clashes among TMC and BJP supporters in Howrah and Birbhum districts since Wednesday night.

“TMC-backed goons hurdled bombs, injuring four men (at Jamrulia in Sadaipur area of Birbhum),” Mustaq Haque, a local BJP leader, alleged.

At Uluberia in Howrah, eight people were injured in a clash among TMC and BJP workers.