Amit Shah to visit Kolkata on Monday to inaugurate Durga Puja

Kolkata, Oct 12 (IANS) Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Kolkata on October 16 to inaugurate Durga Puja in central Kolkata.

He will inaugurate the Puja of Santosh Mitra Square at Lebutala Park in central Kolkata, whose principal organiser is BJP councilor in Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Sajal Ghosh.

The theme of this particular community Puja this year is Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. “The Prime Minister Narandra Modi will be inaugurating the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya in January next year. But before that Home Minister will be inaugurating another Ram Mandir in Kolkata,” Ghosh told media persons.

Ghosh also confirmed that the only programme that Shah will have in Kolkata on Monday will be to inaugurate the Puja. “As per the schedule fixed so far, he will be in the city for a couple of hours. He will come to the city, inaugurate the Puja and go back to New Delhi,” Ghosh said.

Santosh Mitra Square, this year too, has maintained its tradition of not accepting the donation and other financial benefits offered by the state government to the community Durga Puja committees every year.

“We had not been accepting donations for the last two years. Pujas have been organised with lots of pomp and grandeur even before. So it will happen this year as well. But we do not want to be party to waste money of the state exchequer and that too at a time when the state government is unable to meet essential expenditure for development or go for recruitment for the vacant posts,” Ghosh said.