Entertainment

On Saturday evening, Durgapur Durga Puja carnival was organised by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Inspiration and Culture Department near the city's Women's College on Mahatma Gandhi road. The carnival attracted a huge crowd of city dwellers. Shortly after the scheduled time, the carnival was officially inaugurated by the guests.

This year, a total of 12 puja committees participated enthusiastically in the carnival. These included Urvashi, Phuljhar, Nabarun, Dumar Tala, Palash Dihia, Shankarpur, Club Santosh, Marconi, Anand Vihar, Durgapur Guru Nanak Mahila, Buddha Vihar, Chaturanga and Agrani puja committees.The carnival featured artists performing in traditional styles, performing dances and songs based on various themes. The performances continued till late evening. The organizers presented awards to the committees that displayed extraordinary talent. First Urvashi, Second Chaturanga and Third Buddha Vihar.

Keeping the carnival in mind, the ADCP traffic department has stopped vehicle movement on five routes in the city, mainly from Mahatma Gandhi More to Durgapur House Road. The route was closed in the centre, including the road leading to DSP Bulk Supply Intersection, LIC Intersection, Chitralaya Intersection and Nirmala Petrol Pump. The closure of these routes caused inconvenience to the local city residents.

Along with the special guest of Durgapur Puja Carnival Bangladeshi actress Jaya Ahsan, in the inaugural ceremony, other important guests are Hon'ble Minister-in-Charge of West Bengal Panchayats and Rural Development Pradip Mazumder, Hon'ble Minister-in-Charge of West Bengal Labor and Law dept. Malay Ghatak, Durgapur MP Kirti Azad, Police Commissioner Sunil Kumar Chowdhury, District Magistrate Pannambalam S, SBSTC Chairman Subhash Mondal, Pandeshwar MLA Narendra Nath Chakraborty, ADDA Chairman Kabi Dutta, ADDA CEO Aditi Chowdhury, SDM Dr. Saurabh Chatterjee, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Abhishek Gupta, DMC Chairperson Smt. Anindita Mukherjee, representatives of various government departments and representatives of the Puja Committee. Before the program began, all the guests addressed the present city residents.

Bangladeshi actress Jaya Ahsan's appearance as a special guest at the Durga Puja Carnival in Durgapur raised political tensions.The BJP erupted in protest. BJP workers and leaders started a human chain and protest program in front of the Sub-division Administrator's office and SDO bungalow in Durgapur. BJP's district vice-president Chandrashekhar Banerjee led the BJP's protest program. BJP district vice-president Chandrashekhar Banerjee alleged, "Inviting a Bangladeshi citizen to the stage of the state government's Puja Carnival is a very irresponsible and questionable decision. Ignoring the state's own artists and culture and bringing in Bangladeshi film-star to show glamour is an insult to Bengali artists."

The area of Sub-division Administrator's office and his bungalow was filled with slogans like, why foreigners on the stage of Bengal ?’ during the protest program. The activists present held placards and demonstrated, expressing strong anger against the administration. The incident has created a sensation throughout the area. District trinamool congress President Narendranath Chakraborty said, "The arrival of an artist like Jaya Ahsan in a city like Durgapur is a symbol of cultural exchange, it should not be painted with political colors. The people of Bengal will judge them better." He strongly criticized the BJP for repeatedly trying to tarnish Bengal's culture. Moreover, many members of the opposition party and ordinary citizens of durgapur city have strongly criticized the organizers on different social media groups on the issue.