Overview

• Banerjee began inaugurating pandals before Mahalaya and said she will unveil idols from Mahalaya onward, with a target of around 3,000 inaugurations in the coming days.
• She used her appearances to call for communal unity, flagged alleged harassment of Bengali migrant workers, and said GST reforms would cost the state about ₹20,000 crore.
• TMC leaders touted a ₹1.10 lakh grant to each puja committee, while the BJP attacked the funding and early inaugurations as politicised and accused the government of appeasement.
• Abhishek Banerjee said UNESCO’s inscription of Kolkata’s Durga Puja undercuts past claims that the festival faced curbs in Bengal.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted Mahalaya greetings in Bengali, and the Chief Minister released her ‘Durga Angan’ album and voiced a devotional song at the Jago Bangla launch.