A directive by BJP Birbhum district president Uday Shankar Banerjee requiring Durga Puja committees receiving government grants to display a picture of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has triggered backlash within the party, with senior leaders clarifying that no such official condition has been imposed.
Banerjee issued the instruction at a meeting with Puja committees in Sainthia, Birbhum, on Tuesday night. According to his statement, clubs receiving government funds for Durga Puja would have to display the chief minister’s picture in their pandals. He also warned that action would be taken if the instruction was not followed.
The directive came after the state government announced a grant of ₹1 lakh for Durga Puja committees based on applications. The report said neither Adhikari nor the BJP had attached a condition requiring committees to display the chief minister’s photograph while receiving the grant.
Panchayat minister Dilip Ghosh and Union minister of state Sukanta Majumdar clarified that the state government had issued no such official instruction. Their statements separated the grant scheme from the demand made by the district party leader.
The episode has also exposed an internal political contradiction. A BJP leader quoted in the report described Banerjee’s statement as “complete high-handedness” and said the party would ask him not to make such comments in future. Another party leader said the BJP had previously criticised the display of former chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s photographs at Puja pandals and that such a practice was not part of the party’s culture.
The dispute places public grant recipients at the centre of a question over how government support for community festivals is presented in public spaces. The reported grant is based on applications from Puja committees, while the photograph directive was issued at a local party meeting rather than through a government notification.
Banerjee’s statement, the clarification from senior leaders and the party’s reported response leave the immediate administrative position clear: the state grant does not carry an officially announced condition requiring a photograph of the chief minister to be displayed. The BJP’s proposed response to the district president remains the next stated step in the matter.
