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Pandal politics takes centre stage this Durga Puja in Mamata's Bengal

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Romita Datta
Romita DattaSep 29, 2017 | 13:07

Pandal politics takes centre stage this Durga Puja in Mamata's Bengal

Durga Pujo in Bengal is not just a festival. It is a melting pot, a cauldron of many, many more things: emotions, intrigue, involvement, love's first-flush, first kiss, heart breaks and forgiveness.

It is a huge canvas for spreading social awareness, trumpeting political messages and recently for showcasing the government's achievements in a bid to make it to the chief minister's hall of fame and prestigious awards.

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This year Mamata Banerjee winning the UN Public Service Award for Kanyashree (a government stipend and scholarship for girl students pursuing higher studies) has been the dominant theme in terms of decoration and lighting up the pandals. What had spoilt the party was a puja pandal's depiction of doctors as Mahisasura (the demon).

A well-known puja organiser of north Kolkata, a predominantly Hindi-speaking area, had gone on to put up a model of a man, wearing the white doctor's apron with a stethoscope slung around the neck, taking wads of notes from a person, probably fleecing his patient. The placard explaining the model says - beware of doctors, the new-age Mahisasura.

Egged on by the chief minister's rap on doctors and private hospitals this year for losing the humane touch, the puja organiser thought it would be an innovative idea to experiment with Mahisasura and have him replaced by doctors.

When the news began to spread, the medical fraternity was livid. The authorities tried to argue that the doctor's model in their pandal represented fake doctors, who were under CID's scanner. But the logic did not pacify the medical practitioners.

They were preparing to go to court when Mamata intervened and requested the authorities to change the model but it was too late for that. The chief minister suggested that a model depicting a child lifter be put in place, considering cases of child-lifting and child trafficking have increased.

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It goes without saying that the suggestion had an agenda to serve. With the names of a few BJP leaders, including top brass national leaders, involved in kidnapping children from homes, Mamata thought the model of a child trafficker would refresh public memory at a time when the CID investigation is going slow.

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Mamata Banerjee wanted to hold up Durga idol immersion on the day of Muharram over law and order issues.

Another pandal in saffron colour and lotus petals etched in the background was waiting to welcome a VIP. The name of the VIP was a well-guarded secret till the last moment and to everyone's surprise, Mukul Roy inaugurated the puja of suspended Trinamool Congress MP, Kunal Ghosh.

A lot of political storm was kicked up weeks ahead of the puja. Mamata Banerjee wanted to hold up Durga idol immersion on Muharram over law and order issues. The BJP cried hoarse against Mamata's appeasement politics.

A PIL was filed and the court decided that bisarjan or immersion cannot be held up and the police must ensure smooth and peaceful celebration of the festivals of two communities. Obviously, the chief minister had to bite the dust, but she was not someone who would give up easily.

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She made sure that the big puja organisers postponed immersion for Muharram so that the government could have the last laugh.

Apart from the political heat and social messages, which predominated this year's puja, some of the pandals stood out for their aesthetic brilliance. Cashing in on the craze of Baahubali 2, a pandal recreated the grandeur of Mahishmati. Then there were Buckingham Palace, Eiffel Tower, Parliament, African safari, Madame Tussaud's, Thailand. The world came to India's doorsteps.

The pandal hoppers started doing the round of the city and its outskirts way before the actual five-day festivities began with majority of the pujas being inaugurated in advance as there was a huge demand for Mamata Banerjee as the chief guest to either cut the ribbons or place the weapons in Durga's hand or simply chant shlokas and inaugurate the pujas.

Mamata, however, used the platform to spread the message of secularism, universal love and brotherhood but she couldn't camouflage her angst and hatred for a particular political party, which she felt was unnecessarily playing with Hindu sentiments and emotions over immersion and bisarjan to vitiate the atmosphere of harmony.

(Courtesy of Mail Today.)

Last updated: September 29, 2017 | 13:07
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