Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday invoked the vision of a Sonar Bangla while inaugurating Durga Puja pandals in Kolkata. He expressed hope for a change in government in West Bengal after the 2026 assembly polls, news agency PTI reported.
During his visit to the Santosh Mitra Square Durga Puja pandal, Amit Shah said that he had prayed to Goddess Durga for a government that could realize Rabindranath Tagore’s dream of a safe, peaceful, and prosperous Bengal. “I have prayed to Maa Durga that Bengal gets a government that can build the Sonar Bangla Tagore envisioned,” the Union Home Minister said, linking the vision to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s broader goal of a developed India, reported PTI.
Later, Amit Shah paid tribute to 19th-century social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar on his 205th birth anniversary and inaugurated another puja pandal in Salt Lake. He also expressed condolences over the recent rain-related deaths in Kolkata, where over 10 people lost their lives amid heavy downpour.
However, his remarks prompted a sharp counterattack from Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee. Speaking to reporters at Vidyasagar College, where he also paid homage to the reformer, Banerjee accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of withholding central funds and disrespecting Bengal’s heritage.
“They talk of Sonar Bangla, but were they able to build Sonar Bihar, Gujarat, or UP?” he questioned, adding that the Centre owes Bengal Rs 2 lakh crore in dues. Banerjee challenged Shah to a public debate on the state’s financial claims and accused the BJP of attempting to impose North Indian culture on Bengal, reported PTI.
He also reminded Shah of the 2019 vandalism of Vidyasagar’s statue during a BJP rally, noting that the Union Home Minister had failed to visit either the college or the reformer’s ancestral home. “This is why we call them Bangla-Birodhi (anti-Bengali),” he said.
Banerjee further criticised Shah’s past remark that Durga Puja was not celebrated in Bengal—a claim widely ridiculed, especially after UNESCO recognised Kolkata’s Durga Puja as an Intangible Cultural Heritage. “No BJP-ruled state has received such recognition for its festivals,” he added.
Touching upon a Calcutta High Court order from earlier in the day, Banerjee highlighted the court’s directive to bring back six deported Bengali-speaking individuals, including a pregnant woman and three children. He said this was further evidence of how Bengalis were targeted by central policies. “On Vidyasagar’s birth anniversary, they must apologise to the people of Bengal,” he demanded.
Defending the state government’s response to the recent floods, Banerjee stated that Kolkata had returned to normalcy within 48 hours despite receiving over 300 mm of rain in four hours. “If the city were underwater, how is Amit Shah roaming freely from one place to another?” Banerjee asked.
