Modi to virtually inaugurate at least a dozen Durga pujas in West Bengal

The prime minister will inaugurate the pujas from his residence in Delhi

durga-puja-pandal A Durga puja idol in West Bengal | Salil Bera

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate a dozen Durga pujas in West Bengal this week. The Bharatiya Janata Party state unit said that the PM would use the virtual medium to connect with a number of Durga puja pandals across West Bengal from Delhi.

The pujas, which will be inaugurated by Modi from his residence in Delhi, will be held in Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, Midnapore, Asansol and North Bengal.

“We will have central arrangement in Salt Lake,” the party’s co-chair Arvind Menon said. “Other pujas across Bengal will be connected through Salt Lake.”

Speaking exclusively to THE WEEK, Menon said this is the first time the prime minister has decided to open the Durga puja, which would begin from October 23 and last till October 26.

“You can say that it has created ripples in the mind of BJP workers and common people,” said Menon.

This is also for the first time that the BJP is holding a Durga puja in Salt Lake’s Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre with the fund provided by the party. Durga puja in Kolkata have largely been inaugurated by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and it is for the first time that PM Modi has shown interest in inaugurating the main Bengali festival in India.

Last year, Amit Shah, who was then party president, had inaugurated a couple of Durga pujas in the city. However, Banerjee has already inaugurated more than a dozen pujas in Kolkata by attending each function. Virtually, for the first time, Banerjee inaugurated around 25 Durga pujas across the state. There are around 53,000 Durga pujas are happening this year.

Meanwhile, BJP president J.P. Nadda and general secretary B.L. Santosh on Monday landed in Siliguri to see the preparedness of the party for the upcoming assembly election to be held next year in March. Nadda was keen to see the party’s campaign on the farm bills across Bengal in the region where BJP, in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, won eight out of nine seats.

The man behind the victory in North Bengal, Menon, is recuperating from the injuries he had faced on October 8 at BJP’s Nabanna Chalo agitation in Kolkata.

“Yes, I am out of the hospital. But I have still pain in my leg and arms. One arm I could not stretch easily,” Menon told THE WEEK.

Nadda and Santosh will gather reports on North Bengal and give inputs to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who on the party’s behalf would oversee the West Bengal Assembly election in the state.

A report on the injured BJP workers have been sent to Shah and the role of the police in the incident. Around 50 BJP workers are still recovering after being assaulted by the police during the agitation.

Meanwhile, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, who has contracted COVID-19, had been shifted to the ICU of a private hospital in Salt Lake after his condition worsened two days prior. Ghosh had acute breathlessness and has now been shifted out of the ICU.

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