West Bengal’s first Durga Puja celebration under the BJP government drew about 40,000 people to Kolkata’s Eden Gardens on October 10, marking the beginning of the State’s festive programme with a large public event on the occasion of Mahalaya.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari attended the event with members of his Council of Ministers and said Durga Puja celebrations would follow religious traditions this year. The programme was organised by the State government and included cultural performances, a drone show and appearances by artists, religious leaders and public figures.
“All Durga Pujas will follow the proper religious traditions this year,” Mr. Adhikari said, referring to the timing of the celebrations. He said the government had not allowed puja inaugurations before Mahalaya, a position he had announced earlier.
The Chief Minister said 12,400 more community Durga Pujas were being organised in the State this year after the new government came to power. The Hindu reported that 45,000 Durga Pujas had been held under the previous government in 2025. The figures were cited at the Eden Gardens event and were not accompanied in the report by a separate breakdown of the committees involved.
The administration has retained the practice of providing financial assistance to community puja committees, which began during the Trinamool Congress government in 2018. Mr. Adhikari had appealed to large pujas not to seek State assistance. He said more than 200 puja committees in Kolkata had declined the financial support in response to that appeal.
The event was initially planned with the expectation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would attend. However, Mr. Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were absent. The report attributed their absence to protests in Delhi seeking the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
West Bengal Governor R.N. Ravi, State ministers, actors, religious leaders and artists attended the programme. Exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin was among those present. Performances by Shantanu Moitra and Kaushiki Chakraborty formed part of the cultural programme, which continued for several hours.
The large gathering also placed Eden Gardens, a major sports venue, at the centre of the State’s opening public celebration. The event combined crowd management, cultural programming and government-supported community participation, although the report did not provide details of the public spending, traffic arrangements or security deployment for the programme.
Governor Ravi said the arrangements showed that the government was committed to Maa Durga. He also linked the State’s changed political environment with prospects for investment in Bengal. The next stage of the festival will involve community Durga Pujas across the State, with the administration’s stated position that celebrations should begin in accordance with the traditional calendar.
