Union home minister Amit Shah is scheduled to attend Kolkata’s Mahalaya celebrations at Eden Gardens on October 10, with the West Bengal government planning a large cultural programme, a Red Road roadshow and live broadcasts at 35 locations across the city.
A senior Nabanna official said the state had received a tentative tour plan indicating that Shah would visit Kolkata for the event. The official said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had been invited, was unlikely to attend because the Prime Minister’s Office had not confirmed his visit. The programme is expected to follow the same schedule with Shah as the principal national-level guest.
The Eden Gardens event is planned as a large public cultural production, although entry to the stadium will be restricted to invitees. Government sources said 6,000 artistes and 3,000 dhakis are expected to perform. The programme will also include a light-and-sound laser show, a drone display and fireworks. Singers Shantanu Maitra, Shaan, Laganjita, Antara Mitra and Kaushiki Chakraborty are scheduled to perform alongside folk artistes and the band Dohar.
The event will extend beyond the stadium. Before the Eden Gardens programme, a roadshow featuring 23 makeshift pavilions is planned along Red Road. Shah may be accompanied by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari during the roadshow, according to the report. The planned route and temporary structures will require coordination across public-space use, crowd movement and event security, although the supplied information does not specify traffic restrictions or deployment arrangements.
Shah may also inaugurate five Durga Puja installations: Sreebhumi Sporting, Suruchi Sangha, Santosh Mitra Square, Chetla Agrani and Tridhara Sammilani. These proposed visits would take the programme into several neighbourhood-level celebrations rather than keeping the minister’s schedule confined to Eden Gardens.
For Kolkata residents, the most visible part of the plan may be the citywide relay of the Eden Gardens programme. The state government intends to telecast the event live at 35 locations, allowing residents to watch it outside the invitation-only stadium. The announcement, however, does not identify the locations or provide details on the arrangements for screens, public access, crowd management or transport.
Mahalaya traditionally marks the beginning of the festive season in Bengal, and Kolkata’s Durga Puja celebrations involve extensive use of roads, public spaces and temporary structures. The scale outlined for October 10 places the event within the city’s wider festival-management challenge, where cultural programming must be coordinated with security, mobility and access requirements. Officials have not yet publicly detailed the operational plan for the roadshow, fireworks, drone display or the proposed live-broadcast locations.
The state government’s programme therefore remains subject to final scheduling. The information available so far confirms Shah’s proposed attendance and the broad outline of the celebrations, while the Prime Minister’s participation has not been confirmed. Further details are expected as the October 10 event approaches.
