Kolkata Durga Puja pandals themed on NRC, farmers' protest, partition
Kolkata, Oct 10: Several Durga Puja organisers in Kolkata have themed the marquees and idols on issues such as farmers' agitation, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the partition of India.
Naktala Udayan Sangha, one of the prominent clubs, has themed its pandal on refugee migration by train.
"We have recreated a train coming with refugees from Pakistan to showcase the sufferings of the displaced people," Naktala Udayan Sangha spokesperson Samrat Nandi told PTI.
Conceived and executed by Bhabatosh Sutar, the depiction drew references from Khushwant Singh's novel 'Train to Pakistan' and Atin Bandyopadhyay's 'Neelkantho Pakhir Khoje'.
Barisha Club in Behala has themed its puja on NRC, highlighting the plight of displaced people.
Titled 'Bhager Maa' (divided mother), the pensive-looking idol of the goddess symbolises the plight of hundreds of mothers who had to leave their dwellings and head for uncertainty.
However, she is seen clutching an idol of Durga symbolising that she is determined to continue the puja, which used to be celebrated with much fanfare at her ancestral home.
The marquee is divided into two parts India and Bangladesh. The mother and her children wait in the no man's land, in a cage-like structure with her children and belongings.
Rintu Das, who conceptualised the theme, told reporters, "The partition days have come back to haunt us as there are talks of sending back people who have made this country their home for ages. Hope the history is not repeated."
Organisers of the Dumdum Park Bharat Chakra Club puja depicted the farmers' stir, placing a replica of a tractor on the path to the pandal. The tractor has two wings with the names of farmers killed in the agitation written on those.
The puja also courted controversy over the use of hundreds of shoes to depict the police action on the agitating farmers when they had to run helter-skelter. The BJP accused the organisers of hurting religious sentiments and demanded that the shoes be removed immediately from the pandal.
An artist works on a pandal depicting the plight of farmers in the country and their ongoing agitation.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Congress highlights 'vote chori' with video, Kharge asks people to raise voice
New Delhi(PTI): The Congress on Wednesday stepped up its campaign against alleged 'vote chori' by releasing a new video depicting how fake votes were being cast and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge asking people to raise their voice and save constitutional institutions from the "clutches of the BJP".
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi also shared the minute-long video and said, "Aapke vote ki chori aapke adhikar ki chori, aapki pehchaan ki chori hai."
Tagging the advertisement titled 'booth par vote chori", Congress president Kharge said, "Do not let your rights to vote be snatched away. Ask questions, demand answers this time! Raise your voice against vote chori."
"Free constitutional institutions from the clutches of the BJP," he said in his message to the people on X.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also shared the video on X, and said, "the theft of your vote is theft of your rights, theft of your identity."
"Save your right to vote, Raise your voice against vote theft," she said.
The video made by the Congress depicts a family entering a polling booth with two people telling them that their votes have already been cast by them and it ends with the two persons casting fake votes showing a thumbs up to an officer sitting at the table with 'election chori aayog' display plate on his table.
The Congress on Tuesday had claimed that "vote chori" was a "do-or-die" issue for it, and announced a roadmap to take its allegations to the people through various activities, including taking out 'Loktantra bachao mashaal marches' on August 14 evening.
The opposition party also claimed that as more "evidence" of "vote chori" was coming to the fore, it seemed that it was not mere theft but "dacoity".
The assertion was made after Kharge held a meeting with party general secretaries, in-charges and heads of its frontal organisations.
The meeting was attended by the likes of former party chief Rahul Gandhi and general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal, Sachin Pilot, Bhanwar Jitendra Singh, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, as well as treasurer Ajay Maken.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Congress leader and AICC in-charge of National Students' Union of India (NSUI) Kanhaiya Kumar had said a "big issue" of "vote chori" has come to the fore.
"Rahul Gandhi ji has put forward the truth with evidence on how democracy is being throttled," he had said.
Kumar had said that going forward, the Congress will take this to the people with three important programmes.
On August 14, the eve of Independence Day, there will be a 'Loktantra bachao mashaal march' at all district headquarters, Kumar said, adding that between August 22 and September 7, the Congress will hold "vote chor, gaddi chhorh (vote thieves, relinquish power)" rallies in all state headquarters.
"Between September 15 and October 15, a signature campaign will be run to save the right to vote and ensure people's participation," he had said, while asserting that the whole INDIA bloc is together on this.
The Congress has also launched a web portal for people to register and demand accountability from the poll panel against what it called "vote chori", and express support for the demand for digital voter rolls.
Gandhi had urged people to support this demand by registering on votechori.in/ecdemand.
Anyone can click on the portal link and download "vote chori proof, demand EC accountability and report vote chori".
It also carries Gandhi's video in which he reiterated his explosive claims of a "huge criminal fraud" in the polls through "collusion" between the BJP and the EC.
He had cited an analysis in a constituency in Karnataka to support his claim, and said it was "a crime against the Constitution".
On Monday, opposition MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, Kharge and Pawar, took out a protest march from the Parliament House to the Election Commission office against the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and alleged "vote chori", but were stopped midway by the police and briefly detained amid high drama.
वोट चोरी...
— Congress (@INCIndia) August 13, 2025
आपके अधिकार की चोरी है, पहचान की चोरी है।
हमारे साथ जुड़ें-
वोट चोरी के खिलाफ आवाज उठाएं ✊#VoteChori pic.twitter.com/Bf0elDbYLk
