Kolkata: A community Durga Puja in the eastern outskirts of Kolkata this year will have the statue of Goddess Durga in the form of West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee. The name of the organizing Puja club is Nazrul Park Unnayan Samiti located at Baguiati in the eastern outskirts of Kolkata.
The organizers, however, rule out politics associated with the theme. According to them, the development works undertaken by the chief minister have become so popular since it has immensely benefited a large number of people of the state.
The pandal of the Puja this year will portray the popular "Lakkhir Bhandar" scheme, a monthly dole scheme for women of each family ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000. However, the main attraction of the Puja will be the fibreglass-made statue of Goddess Durga which will be in the form of the chief minister.
According to the organizers, for them Maa Durga is not just a destroyer of evil power. Rather she is a true public representative and so the theme of our Puja this time is "Mamata, You are the only hope".
According to the club president, Indranath Bagui, in the post-pandemic period because of the economic downturn, when many organizers were worried about the budget of the Puja, the idea of the theme came to his mind. "We discussed the matter with our pandal artist, Avijit Bag and potter, Mantu Pal and finalized it.
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The club secretary, Utsab Ghosh said that the main purpose of the theme is to spread the message of development which has been spearheaded by the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee.
"The people of West Bengal are reaping the benefits of her development works. Now we want the people of the entire country to do the same. So we have selected the theme of Goddess Durga with her 10 hands but in the form of the chief minister," he said.
Potter Montu Pal said that the fibreglass-made idol will be prepared keeping in mind the facial impression of the chief minister. "Like the chief minister, the idol will sport white saree and bathroom sleepers. In the background of the idol, there will be the logo of 'Bishwa Bangla'. And the ten hands of the idol will carry replicas of the ten most popular developmental projects," he said.
