By IANS,
Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee distributed Kali Puja ‘prasad’ and greeted guests from various parts of the state and abroad as long queues of people were seen at her residence here Wednesday.
Banerjee has been organising the ‘puja’ at her house in the Kalighat area since 1978 when she was a student leader of the Congress.
The doors of Banerjee’s spartan residence in the dingy Harish Chatterjee Street were thrown open to the public and following her strict instructions, security was never obtrusive.
Thousands of Trinamool Congress supporters and commoners visited the single-storey house throughout the day Tuesday to watch the puja in the courtyard and catch a glimpse of the party chief.
Trinamool sources said Banerjee performed the puja from her personal savings.
Looking cheerful, the chief minister, clad in her trademark cotton sari and rubber slippers, was busy making the puja arrangements, overseeing cooking of ‘bhog’ (food offerings for the goddess) and welcoming VIPs as well as commoners.
Some visitors from Germany, France and Latvia also attended the puja.
State assembly speaker Biman Banerjee, ministers, MPs and MLAs, director general of police Naparajit Mukherjee and Kolkata police commissioner Ranjit Pachnanda were among those who visited Banerjee’s residence.
The chief minister kept a fast through the day Tuesday and broke it only after offering “pushpanjali” (special offering to the goddess) late in the night.
According to Hindu mythology, Goddess Kali is the first of the 10 incarnations of Goddess Durga, who killed demons Shambhu and Nishambhu but stepped on her husband Lord Shiva as she lost control in the bloodbath.