With around two-and-a-half months to go before Durga Puja, preparations have gathered pace across Kolkata, with several of the city's iconic festival committees undergoing leadership changes following the BJP's victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections.
This will be the first Durga Puja since the BJP ended the Trinamool Congress's 15-year rule in the April Assembly elections. The festival will be held from October 16 to 21.
Several prominent puja committees that had long been associated with leaders of the previous TMC government have either reconstituted their executive bodies or inducted new office-bearers. Among the most prominent are Sreebhumi Sporting Club and Suruchi Sangha.
BJP MLA Sourav Sikdar has assumed a key organisational role at Suruchi Sangha following the exit of its earlier office-bearers, while state Health Minister Sharadwat Mukherjee has become associated with the Sreebhumi Sporting Club Puja. Until 2025, Sreebhumi Puja was associated with former state minister Sujit Bose, while Suruchi Sangha was linked to another former minister, Aroop Biswas.
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya, however, said he would not head any Durga Puja committee, maintaining that festivals should remain people's initiatives rather than platforms for political influence.
He did, however, attend the 'khunti puja' at College Square Durga Puja.
At Mohammad Ali Park, state minister and BJP leader Tapas Roy was among the distinguished guests at the 'khunti puja'.
The 'khunti puja', marking the ceremonial beginning of Durga Puja preparations, is traditionally held on the first day of Rath Yatra, when the sibling deities begin their journey from the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple.
In south Kolkata's Patuli, BJP MLA Sarbari Mukherjee has been named chief patron of Kendua Shanti Sangha, replacing arrested former TMC councillor Bappaditya Dasgupta.
Similarly, Baranagar Lowland Sarbajanin has appointed BJP MLA Sajal Ghosh in place of former TMC leader Pradip Narayan Bose.
Rajdanga Nabauday Sangha, previously associated with heavyweight TMC councillor Sushanta Ghosh, who is currently in judicial custody, has decided to organise this year's puja solely through its club members. It has symbolically chosen 'sodhan' (correction) as its theme.
Several other puja committees across Kolkata and neighbouring areas have also inducted BJP leaders into their organising bodies while maintaining that the festival's cultural and religious significance remains unchanged despite the political transition.
"Our puja has a budget of around Rs 1 crore. The local BJP MLA of Jadavpur is now associated with us. We are neither reducing the scale of the celebrations nor departing from our traditions," Somnath Das of Santoshpur Lake Pally said.
Bhabanipur 75 Pally secretary Subir Das said preparations were progressing at full pace. "We hope to receive the support of Chief Minister and local MLA Suvendu Adhikari. Whichever party is in power, Durga Puja will never lose its grandeur," he said.
In north Kolkata, organisers of the Nalin Sarkar Street Puja in the Hatibagan area said they had performed the 'khunti puja' jointly with Nabin Pally and were receiving full cooperation from the administration.
As preparations intensify across the state, organisers said their focus remained on ensuring the festival retained its cultural and community character despite the changing political landscape.
(With inputs from PTI)
