Whereas the Trinamool Congress authorities pulled out all of the stops for this yr’s Durga Puja, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee main from the entrance, the West Bengal BJP has introduced that the Puja organised by it at EZCC in Salt Lake, Kolkata, would be the social gathering’s final.
The one official Durga Puja organised by the social gathering – there are smaller ones the place its leaders is likely to be concerned – is proving to be “too pricey” to proceed, BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar has mentioned.
Nevertheless, that is an uncommon transfer by the BJP, which swears by each its religiosity and its intentions to develop in Bengal, regardless of the pushback from the TMC, and can’t in all seriousness declare a money crunch. Durga Puja as Bengal’s largest cultural occasion is ripe floor for votes, because the TMC has proved.
Majumdar made the announcement relating to the BJP withdrawing from Durga Puja whereas inaugurating the EZCC festivities on Saturday morning. “The BJP won’t organise a Puja from subsequent yr. Yearly, we spend Rs 15-16 lakh on it, and it’s troublesome to gather this enormous price,” he mentioned.
The BJP had organised the EZCC Durga Puja for the primary time in 2020, a yr earlier than the Meeting elections, when it hoped to make a critical dent within the TMC’s majority. On the time, there was enormous enthusiasm amongst social gathering leaders and employees. Nevertheless, the TMC’s sweep within the 2021 polls had been adopted by a marked decline in enthusiasm, speeded alongside by the defection of many BJP leaders again to the TMC. The Covid curbs additionally ensured that the Puja festivities in 2020 and 2021 remained low-key.
This yr, the bitter iner-faction fights meant that BJP employees weren’t positive until a month in the past whether or not the social gathering will organise the EZCC Puja or not.
Some senior leaders argued that as per custom, if anybody hosts a Durga Puja as soon as, they need to proceed it for no less than three successive years. Then they’ll cease, and therefore the BJP can too now.
When the decision was lastly taken to go forward with the Puja, the BJP roped in a lady and non-Brahmin priest, Sulata Mondol, to guide the prayers amidst a lot fanfare, and grandeur. The BJP famous that the resident of Batakuri village in South Dinajpur had been proficient in Shastra information when simply 18, and was expert in Chandi Path.
Nevertheless, this variation of coronary heart in relation to the Puja was short-term, it appears. A BJP chief mentioned, “We really feel our responsibility is to not organise Durga Puja. A political social gathering ought to organise actions towards the federal government or on pro-people points.”
Organising the Puja was the thought of Kailash Vijayvargiya, the BJP normal secretary and former in-charge of West Bengal, the chief added. “It was nothing however a gimmick and insanity on his half. The 2021 Meeting election outcomes confirmed that such measures didn’t assist us a lot. So, it’s higher to cease.”
Some leaders additionally mentioned the selection of the venue was incorrect from the beginning. A senior chief mentioned, “The world (EZCC stands for Jap Zone Cultural Centre, of the Union Ministry of Tradition) is owned by the Central authorities. We must always not do Puja in a authorities space. It’s unethical and TMC leaders have focused us over it.”
BJP sources additionally level that the central management appears to be on board with the thought to not proceed with the Puja organisation. They mentioned that Majumdar had initially invited Union House Minister Amit Shah for the inauguration, however that didn’t occur. Even the dependable fallback possibility of yesteryear Bollywood star-turned-BJP politician Mithun Chakraborty fell by means of.
The primary version of the EZCC Puja in 2020, quite the opposite, was nearly inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The TMC didn’t lose any time attacking the BJP over its choice to distance itself from Durga Puja organisation. TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh mentioned, “This reveals that the BJP tried to make use of Durga Puja for political positive aspects forward of the Meeting elections. However, that didn’t work. Now, after they have realised that it’s going to not work, they’ve determined to cease. The outsider BJP mainly can’t perceive the psyche of Bengalis.”