A week before the festival commences, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday virtually inaugurated a Durga Puja in Kolkata. The Trinamool Congress chief, who has in her time as Chief Minister always physically inaugurated the Puja pandals, chose a virtual route this year due to a knee injury.
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“I have an injury in my foot, otherwise I am fine. There is an infection there, and doctors have advised me not to walk,” the Chief Minister said while virtually inaugurating these Pujas. Ms. Banerjee said that she will participate in the Durga Puja carnival event on October 27.
“Though I am not there physically, I am mentally there with you,” Ms. Banerjee told the Puja organisers. Among the community Durga Pujas which she inaugurated were Sreebhumi Sporting Club and Hathibagan Sarbojonin. The Chief Minister, who is likely to virtually inaugurate scores of Durga Pujas in Kolkata over the next few days, also showered her praise on the design of the idols.
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State Minister Sujit Bose is the patron of Sreebhumi Sporting Club while Deputy Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation Atin Ghosh is one of the organisers of Hatibagan Sarbojanin. The big ticket community Durga Pujas in Kolkata and the districts have political leaders, particularly those from the ruling party as patrons. The West Bengal government has increased the financial allotment to each of the community Durga Puja groups to ₹70,000 this year.
In December 2021, Durga Puja in Kolkata was accorded the UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The global recognition to the festival has also added another feather to the religious and cultural spectacle in the State.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership is using the Durga Puja to increase their public outreach across West Bengal. Sources said that the West Bengal BJP has reached out to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to inaugurate the Durga Puja at Santosh Mitra square in central Kolkata. The community puja is being organised by BJP leader Sajal Ghosh. According to West Bengal BJP leadership, the Home Minister has agreed to inaugurate the Durga Puja.