Bengal Durga Puja Mirrors Political Shift: BJP Rises as TMC Slides

Kolkata: Durga Puja in Bengal is more than a religious and cultural celebration. It is also a stage for political visibility, with the state's changed power equations reflected in the TMC leadership's conspicuous absence from the pandal circuit and the BJP using the festivities to showcase its political dominance. For a decade-and-a-half, scenes of then chief minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurating one pandal after another were a prominent part of Kolkata's pre-puja buzz.

This year, however, she inaugurated just one puja pandal in her Kalighat residential neighbourhood, a striking departure from her hectic inauguration schedule of a set target of 3,000 pujas in 2025.

And it is not just Banerjee. Several TMC leaders who once wielded considerable influence in Kolkata's big-budget community pujas have also been conspicuous by their absence from this year's inauguration trail.

As the TMC grapples with an organisational crisis following its defeat in the Assembly elections, internal upheaval and a diminished public presence have taken precedence, leaving its leaders less visible at a time when Durga Puja traditionally offers them an opportunity to connect with people beyond the political arena.

Former ministers Aroop Biswas, Sujit Bose and Firhad Hakim, who patronised prominent puja committees in their political strongholds, are no longer near the festivities. Partha Chatterjee, out on bail in the infamous school recruitment scam case, has vanished from the popular Naktala Udayan Sangha puja scene.

This is striking, especially for the TMC, given how closely the party's public presence had become intertwined with Bengal's annual festival during its years in power.

Filling up the vacant space is the BJP, with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari emerging as the principal face of this year's puja inauguration scene. He visited a string of prominent pandals in Kolkata as well as in the districts, inaugurating several of them.

Among his high-profile stops was Sreebhumi Sporting Club, a community puja in eastern Kolkata patronised by Sujit Bose and inaugurated by Mamata Banerjee last year.

The shift is visible beyond the chief minister's schedule.

BJP leaders, including Dilip Ghosh, its state president Samik Bhattacharya, Union minister Sukanta Majumdar, Locket Chatterjee and Agnimitra Paul, have been prominently present at pandal inaugurations and festive events across the state.

Party leaders who were once more often seen challenging the TMC from the opposition benches are now using the festival to consolidate their public presence and establish relationships with puja organisers.

The transformation extends to the committees themselves.

Several prominent pujas are witnessing changes in the political figures associated with their inaugurations and ceremonial roles, reflecting a broader realignment after the change of government.

At Ahiritola Sarbojanin, for instance, the traditional 'chokkhudan' ritual was performed this year by BJP MLA Purnima Chakraborty who replaced the former TMC cabinet minister Sashi Panja to do the honours.

The Mohammad Ali Park's puja also saw a change in its political association, where BJP Minister Tapas Roy donned the inauguration mantle, pushing North Kolkata MP and dissident TMC leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay out.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Rahul Sinha described the transition as an "open goalpost with no opponent players to stop progress".

"We are facing no hindrance in making our presence felt in Durga Puja this year. The TMC cadres, for whom puja was nothing more than an excuse to extort money from people, have fled," he said.

This reflects the altered political fortunes of a party that once dominated the festival's public stage.

Krishanu Mitra, the spokesperson of the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC faction, said, "The transfer of control of community pujas from the Trinamool to the BJP isn't spontaneous or organic. It was brought about in a coercive manner, with the police and administration playing an active role in the background."

"Leaders like Debraj Chakraborty, who have been incarcerated by the current dispensation, still enjoy popular support. They are bound to return from jail, sooner rather than later. This BJP government will crumble once its counterpart at the Centre falls. Our leaders will then regain the festival space because their connection with the masses is organic," he asserted.

BJP minister Indranil Khan, however, said that pujas are not properties to be owned by political parties. "We are not here to appropriate puja pandals. Durga Puja belongs to the masses and not to any political party."

"I am only visiting pandals where I am invited. We do not believe in inaugurating pandals with remote buttons like our predecessor. Pujas are not meant to reap political dividends," he asserted.

For the BJP, the prominence of its leaders during the festivities is an opportunity to translate electoral victory into a more durable social and cultural presence. For the TMC, the near disappearance of its leading figures from the inauguration circuit offers a visible measure of how dramatically its position has changed.