Overview

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah, inaugurating Durga Puja pandals in Kolkata, said he prayed for a government that can build the ‘Sonar Bangla’ envisioned by Tagore.
• Abhishek Banerjee countered that the Centre owes the state Rs 2 lakh crore and challenged Shah to a public debate to defend the figures.
• Banerjee demanded that Shah visit Vidyasagar College and apologise for the 2019 vandalism of the reformer’s bust, as Shah paid tribute on Vidyasagar’s 205th birth anniversary.
• Citing a Calcutta High Court order to bring back six deported Bengali-speaking individuals, Banerjee argued that central policies have targeted Bengalis.
• Shah offered condolences for recent rain-related deaths in Kolkata, while Banerjee defended the state’s flood response and questioned BJP criticism given reported 300 mm of rain in four hours.