The Durga Puja carnival at Kolkata’s Red Road will be held on Saturday after two years with at least 90 puja committees participating in the event.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and dignitaries from foreign embassies, consulates and the UNESCO will be present on the occasion. State Information and Culture Minister Indranil Sen and Chief Secretary Harikrishna Dwivedi held separate preparatory meetings. In a meeting with the Puja organisers, the Kolkata Police have issued a set of guidelines. Of the nearly 100 pujas the state government had shortlisted for the carnival, 10 will not be present, it is learnt.
“Some puja committees do the immersion of idol on Vijaya Dashami. The 10 committees said they cannot change their tradition and hence showed their unwillingness to participate. This time, the Naktala Udayan Sangha committee was not invited to the carnival. Former minister Partha Chatterjee, who has been arrested for his alleged involvement in the school jobs scam, was the main patron of this puja. The CM, unlike other years, did not inaugurate this puja,” an official said.
Anjan Das, a Naktala Udayan Sangha organiser, said, “We do not know why we were not invited. We even do not know why many prizes were not given. We are happy that a large number of people came to see our pandal.”
