Preparation for Durga Puja at Sealdah Athletic Club on Saturday photo by Sayantan Chakraborty
The Sealdah Railway Athletic Club has been organising Durga Puja at the Railway Quarter Netaji Subhas Ground near Sealdah Station since 1948. The individual, Kankan Kumar Gunri, subsequently printed invitation cards for a Khuti Puja scheduled for Sept 1. The puja has been going on since 1948 and we have records of written permission for the past 40 years,” said Srijit Saha, secretary of Athletic Club Durga Puja.
We have also incurred financial losses due to the delay in getting permission,” said Saha.
It applied for permission in June, as it does every year, but was still awaiting permission when an individual associated with a workers’ union secured approval in Aug for khuti puja at the same ground, according to the club. We are afraid that we might not be able to finish everything before the festival begins,” said Saha. “A lot of time has been lost and we are depending on our artist to finish the work,” said Saha.
The cards identified him as the president of the puja and listed two BJP MPs as chief guests, along with several govt officials. “Like every year, this year too we made a formal application to the authorities in the Sealdah division in June. Members of Athletic Club have alleged that Gunri is close to the party in office, though the allegation has not been independently established. His Facebook profile identifies him as associated with several religious organisations and workers’ unions. In social media posts, Gunri has alleged that the authorities withdrew permission for the puja after granting all the necessary approvals. “We organised the Khuti Puja with only three weeks to go for the festival. The idol was also kept on hold. The work began only two days ago. The delay has left organisers uncertain whether they can execute the London Bridge theme as planned. “The delay has affected not just the pandal but also the idol and the wider preparations for the puja.