In Trinamool Congress-ruled West Bengal, Durga Puja is not just an annual extravaganza, but has also traditionally been a political arena where most puja committees are affiliated to the ruling party.
While the Communists, currently in Opposition, claim to be atheists, their domination of Durga Puja during the 34-year Left rule in the state was palpable. After Mamata Banerjee’s TMC swept to power in 2011, her party took the centre-stage. The demand for her to inaugurate pandals skyrocketed over the years to the extent that the CM started virtually inaugurating many pandals at one go.
While the political dominance of the TMC continues, the BJP has, for the first time in a coordinated manner, started flexing its muscle in the political arena of Durga Puja.
Not only did Amit Shah and JP Nadda land in the state for the single-largest annual festivities of Bengalis, but the BJP has also pressed a slew of top leaders and Chief Ministers into action. As many as four Union ministers from Bengal have been asked “not to move an inch” from the state till ‘Bhashan’, or immersion of Durga idols, BJP sources in Kolkata told News18.
Puja and Politics
One of Kolkata’s most iconic pujas is the Santosh Mitra Square, which is Kolkata-based BJP leader Sajal Ghosh’s Durga Puja. Situated in central Kolkata’s Lebutala Park, this Durga Puja pandal is a huge crowd-puller.
Last year, a huge Red Fort replica served as the centrepiece of the pandal, complete with a glittering laser show. It drew record crowds and Kolkata Police had to briefly halt the laser show to avoid a stampede-like situation. This time, this popular Durga Puja committee has made a life-size replica of Ayodhya’s under-construction Ram Mandir.
Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah visited Kolkata this week just to inaugurate the pandal.
On Saturday, on the occasion of Mahasaptami (the seventh day of Durga Puja), BJP president JP Nadda will be in the state capital on a day-long visit where he is slated to visit multiple puja pandals in Kolkata and adjoining Howrah — both districts where the BJP did not do well in the 2021 Assembly elections.
After landing in Kolkata at 11am, Nadda is scheduled to head straight to a Durga Puja pandal at Howrah Ground. According to the BJP, Nadda will spend time with organizers and devotees at the festivities. At 1pm, he will visit the most iconic and heritage puja of Bengal — Shobhabajar Rajbari in Kolkata, which started way back in 1757. This would be followed by a visit to the pandal in Kolkata’s New Market area.
Senior Leadership in Attendance
Apart from the top brass, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has also been camping in Bengal to increase the saffron party’s footprint in Bengal’s Durga Puja. On Friday, on the occasion of Shashti (the sixth day of Durga Puja), Pradhan visited five Durga Pujas, including the Bangiyo Samaj Durgotsav, which he inaugurated. This puja is taking place after the intervention of the Calcutta High Court and, hence, the BJP considers it as a victory.
In between clicking photos and offering prayers, Pradhan said: “Ma Durga is known for the victory of ‘Dharm’ over ‘Adharm’. Today, under the leadership of PM Modi, India is on the way to progress. My prayers are for Bengal, too, to take part in that progress.”
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant was also in Bengal and inaugurated pandals from Durgapur to Dubrajpur. Later, a photo of him praying to a Kali idol was circulated by the Bengal BJP. “The Goa CM prayed for establishing the rule of law in Bengal in front of Ma Tara,” said the caption.
Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) chief and BJP MP Tejaswi Surya was not far behind and took part in two Durga Puja festivities in Kolkata — Santosh Mitra Square and Loknath Bhawan at Motilal Nehru Street.
State Leaders On Daily Duty
Meanwhile, state leaders like Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, MP Locket Chatterjee, and Dilip Ghosh, among others, have been pressed into daily action managed on an hourly basis by the party so they can attend as many Durga Puja celebrations as possible.
On Friday, Ghosh visited as many as 12 Durga Pujas, from 10:30am till 8:30pm. On the same day, Adhikari inaugurated 13 Durga Puja pandals. He started the day with an inauguration at his home turf at 9am in Simul Bari area of East Medinipur and ended it at 10pm with another inauguration at Nandigram, his constituency.
Locket Chatterjee, one of BJP’s prominent woman leaders in the Lok Sabha, had it relatively easy with six inaugurations, mainly focussed around Bankura district that falls under the once-Maoist-dominated Jangal Mahal. Majumdar had to visit seven Durga Puja pandals on Saturday.
“Inaugurations are mostly complete. Now, they will have to visit pandals for ‘Anjali’ (a form of prayer), ‘Dhunuchi Nach’(a quintessential dance with a burning coil inside an earthen pot), and ‘Bhashan’ (the immersion procession on the 10th day). They have every hour accounted for. We have coordinators at the district level who will travel with each politician and every detail, including logistics, managed centrally from here in Kolkata,” said a young BJP worker who is among the few entrusted with the job of central management.
A BJP Bengal state secretary told News18 on condition of anonymity: “We got 18 MPs from Bengal in 2019 and 77 MLAs in 2021. But never has the party been able to infiltrate the Durga Puja committees that have been closely guarded by the TMC so far. This time, it is refreshingly unusual. But it is already taking a toll on our leaders’ health.”
The BJP is clearly making a play for Bengal’s biggest annual festival this time.
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