Birbhum Durga Puja Shows Signs of Trinamul's Shift in Calculations

The Birbhum Durga Puja event has shown signs of a change in the Trinamul Congress's calculations in the district, which is thought to be a bastion of the governing party.

On the roadways, the alteration is visible to some extent. At Puja pandals, the shift is more noticeable. In terms of the scope of two Puja festivities, the difference is noticeable.

One is hosted in the ancestral house of Anubrata Mondal, the erstwhile Birbhum strongman of Trinamul, in the hamlet of Hatserandi in Nanoor. The second is at Papuri, the ancestral village of Sheikh Kajal, who is Mondal's opponent in the party, and is just 3.4 miles distant.

"Anyone visiting Birbhum during this Puja can easily see that Kajal is in charge and the district is no longer a stronghold of the Mondal family. A top Trinamul official stated, "You can see that Kajal has taken the position of the incarcerated leader here by the 'welcome' gates that have been installed on several highways in Birbhum.

Large portraits of Mondal, along with those of state minister Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek, were traditionally placed on improvised gates as a way to welcome people during Durga Puja until last year. The exhibit remained almost unchanged even after Mondal was taken into custody before to the Puja of the previous year.

This time, banners with images of Kajal can be seen at most pandals in the region.

In connection with a cattle rustling case, the CBI detained Mondal on August 11 of last year. He and his daughter Sukanya are incarcerated in the Tihar jail in Delhi at the moment.

Mondal used to spend the Puja days at his ancestral house at Hatserandi, 16 kilometers from Santiniketan. He is now the district president of Trinamul.

For hundreds of Trinamul leaders and workers, a trip to Hatserandi to see Mondal was imperative. Every day, the family would plan meals for a minimum of one thousand guests.

The ancestral house and its Puja were empty on Mahashtami (Sunday) when this newspaper visited the location. There were just two of Mondal's brothers present to perform the rites, and the celebration was muted.

"Those who have previously attended our Puja are aware of how packed the premises will be. Mondal's younger brother Bablu said, "There was not even a place to sit because of the crowd of my elder brother's followers."

According to a family member, the rush persisted even in 2023, when the Puja was held around two months after Mondal's jail sentence.

But this year, the focus of the audience switched to Papuri.

After Kajal was elevated to the position of chairman of the Birbhum zilla parishad, Mamata had him join Trinamul's core committee.

Kajal, who has been in charge of the village's Puja for 12 years, said that in 2023 the celebration had altered for him. In the district, he had to personally attend more than a hundred pujas.

"Party leaders and a large number of individuals are coming here. At our puja launch, senior politicians were there," Kajal said at his home as she attended to hundreds of guests.

On Mahasaptami (Saturday), he did not overlook visiting Mondal's home and giving new garments to the underprivileged locals. "I went to Anubrata Mondal's ancestral home because he is my senior leader," Kajal remarked.