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The home minister is also expected at the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre Durga Puja in Salt Lake, which first started in 2020
Amit Shah was last in town during Durga Puja in 2023 when he inaugurated the Santosh Mitra Square Puja. (News18)
After a gap of one year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to be back in West Bengal’s ‘City of Joy’ this festive season to inaugurate a few Durga Pujas, tentatively six months from when the state goes to polls.
If sources are to be believed, Shah will land in Kolkata on the very first day of the Durga Puja season—September 22—when pandal inaugurations can officially start. While a final confirmation from the minister’s office is expected just ahead of his Kolkata visit, the Bengal BJP leadership wants to use this visit to counter TMC’s constant allegations against the party of being ‘anti-Bengali’.
“At a time when the targeted narrative against the BJP in Bengal has been that we are against the state, which is absurd, Shah offering prayers to Maa Durga is bound to correct a lot of false narratives. We are hopeful about his visit on Prothoma (the first day after Mahalaya),” said a BJP state executive member, requesting anonymity.
If the September 22 visit happens, Shah will inaugurate two Durga Pujas—Santosh Mitra Square in the Bowbazar area in Kolkata and Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC) in Salt Lake. Santosh Mitra Square, a very popular Durga Puja committee, is run by Sajal Ghosh, who joined the BJP in 2021. The theme of the popular Durga Puja pandal this time is Operation Sindoor and it will showcase the military valour of India’s brave hearts.
Shah was last in town during Durga Puja in 2023 when he inaugurated the Santosh Mitra Square Puja, which was themed around the Ayodhya Ram Mandir that year. This Durga Puja remains a crowd puller and created a “stampede-like” situation last year when it came up with a theme of “The Sphere,” which was inspired by the Sphere of Las Vegas.
The EZCC Durga Puja, meanwhile, first started in 2020 when the BJP realised that they did not have enough grip over a single Durga Puja committee in Kolkata to invite their central leadership and Sajal Ghosh was yet to join the party. Amid much fanfare, EZCC—a cultural centre run by the Union government’s ministry of culture—became the host of an extravagant BJP-organised Durga Puja in 2020, which was virtually inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to customs, if started, a Puja has to be carried out three times. However, after the 2021 defeat of the BJP, the EZCC Durga Puja was just was ritual—devoid of any significant presence of the BJP leadership.
But 2025 is Deja vu for Bengal BJP, which is reliving 2020 all over again. Recently, the “khunti puja” (worship of the pole that marks the beginning of pandal construction) was marked by BJP leaders like state president Samik Bhattacharya, cultural cell chief Rudranil Ghosh, and former MP Rupa Ganguly. And if all goes well for the BJP, Shah will inaugurate the Puja on September 22, making it the most high-profile visit.
The BJP knows that its reach is limited in Bengal during the festive season, given that chief minister Mamata Banerjee will be mass inaugurating pandals during the same time and will have the added advantage of being in the government. She has also granted Rs 1,10,000 to each Durga Puja pandal. Shah, hence, picked a popular pandal that illustrates Operation Sindoor—something the Modi government is happy talking about—and is set to use the opportunity to counter TMC’s political charge against BJP of being anti-Bengal.
Anindya Banerjee, Associate Editor brings over fifteen years of journalistic courage to the forefront. With a keen focus on politics and policy, Anindya has garnered a wealth of experience, with deep throat in …Read More
Anindya Banerjee, Associate Editor brings over fifteen years of journalistic courage to the forefront. With a keen focus on politics and policy, Anindya has garnered a wealth of experience, with deep throat in … Read More
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