Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata via video conferencing on Thursday as the five-day celebrations begin in West Bengal amid the pandemic.
Modi will virtually inaugurate a pandal that BJP has set up in Salt Lake in Kolkata at a cultural centre run by the Union Ministry of Culture, NDTV reported.
The PM also tweeted about joining the festivities and addressing the people at noon.
Durga Puja is an auspicious occasion, which celebrates the victory of good over evil. We pray to Maa Durga to bless us with strength, happiness and good health.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 21, 2020
Sisters and brothers of West Bengal,
Tomorrow, on the auspicious day of Maa Durga Pujo’s Mahashashti, I would join the Divine celebrations via video conferencing and shall also be extending my greetings to everyone.
Do join the programme live!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 21, 2020
The BJP claims it has made elaborate arrangements for the live-viewing of the PM’s virtual address to the people. TV screens have been put up in all the 78,000 election booth areas across the state.
Several big names are likely to stage cultural performances in the two hours before the speech, including dancer Dona Ganguly, wife of BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly.
The BJP wants to make the most of the event too and political analysts are already reading between the lines about Modi’s participation in Bengal’s biggest festival ahead of the assembly elections.
“He is Prime Minister for many years. Why is he addressing Bengal for the first time in this year’s Durga Puja? Is it because elections are round the corner,” a Trinamool Congress spokesperson said.
