VINOD BHAT
Delhi, Sep 26: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah inaugurated the Santosh Mitra Square Durga Puja Pandal and the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre Durga Puja Pandal in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal today. Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah also offered prayers to Goddess Kali at the Kalighat Temple in Kolkata.
Addressing the inauguration program of the Santosh Mitra Square Durga Puja Pandal, the Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that the nine-day festival of worship during Navratri has become popular not only in Bengal or India but across the world. He said that this great tradition of Bengal has been witnessed and embraced with great joy by people worldwide. For nine days, every person in Bengal—whether a child, youth, or elderly—devotes themselves to the worship of Shakti. Shri Shah added that these nine days are very significant for Bengal.
Union Home Minister said that the dream of a developed India envisioned by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi through the development of Bengal must be fulfilled collectively by all of us. Shri Shah said that in the upcoming Assembly elections, with the blessings of Mother Durga, a government would be formed in Bengal that will build a ‘Sonar Bangla’.
He added that Bengal should once again become safe, prosperous, peaceful, abundant in water and wealth, and that the Bengal envisioned by poet-guru Rabindranath Tagore should be realized.
Union Home Minister expressed grief over the death of more than 10 people due to the recent heavy rainfall in Kolkata. He said that we share in the sorrow of all the bereaved families.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation paid tribute on the birth anniversary of the great educationist and social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. He said that the invaluable contribution made by the revered Vidyasagar Ji in the field of education during the days of colonial rule, not only in Bengal but across the entire country, can never be forgotten. Shri Shah said that Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar dedicated his entire life to the Bengali language, culture, grammar, and women’s education.
