Festive season has already started in India with Ganesh Chaturthi and with days remaining for the Durga Puja, even the politicians are in a mood to garner the blessings of the Goddess. Congress President Rahul Gandhi is likely to be in Kolkata on September 17 at a puja pandal to offer “Anjali” or floral tributes to the Goddess Durga. According to belief, Anjali on Ashtami or the second and main day of Durga Puja is believed to be the most propitious.
Though the Congress is yet to make the news of Gandhi’s visit official, new Bengal chief Somen Mitra has confirmed it. Among the names of the puja pandals, where Gandhi is supposed to visit, can either be Santosh Mitra Square puja pandal or College Square Durga Puja pandal.
The party’s leaders in Kolkata are claiming that this would be Gandhi’s first visit to a Durga puja pandal, while others see it as his string of temple visits and the Kailash-Mansarover pilgrimage. The BJP on the other side has continuously criticised Gandhi for attempting soft-Hindutva with his temple run with national and state elections just knocking the doors.
Not only Gandhi, even West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress is aiming to garner the Hindu votes with this festive season. Party leader Derek O’Brien tweeted a clip of Banerjee reciting mantras chanted during Durga Puja in both in Bengali and English.
Now the Congress which is trying to look for options for coalition in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the state, it might wait for the right moment. As CPM does not have a rival prime minister candidate, but with Banerjee leading the front, political arena definitely needs the blessing of Goddess Durga.
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