Abhijit De Bhowmik, the Cooch Behar district Trinamool Congress president, handed over financial assistance ranging from ₹3,000 to ₹5,000 to over 200 Durga Puja organisers of the Cooch Behar South Assembly constituency on Tuesday.
In north Bengal, this is the first time that the district Trinamool leadership has formally handed over such assistance to Durga Puja organisers, which is in addition to the ₹1.10 lakh aid provided by the Trinamool government of the state to every club organising Pujas.
On Tuesday, Trinamool held a colourful procession where over 30 clubs from the Assembly segment participated with fervour. Youngsters, dressed in colourful attire, walked in the rally that moved across Cooch Behar town.
“The rally was organised to thank chief minister Mamata Banerjee for providing ₹ 1.10 lakh to each Durga Puja organiser. We have handed over financial assistance to them for Puja on behalf of the party,” Bhowmik said.
“Assistance between ₹3,000 and ₹5,000 was paid to each club. Also, an additional ₹3,000 was paid to the clubs which participated in Tuesday's rally,” said a source.
Such a move by Bhowmik has drawn criticism from the saffron camp.
At the Assembly elections of 2021, when Bhowmik was the district Trinamool youth president, he had contested from Cooch Behar South and lost to BJP candidate Nikhil Ranjan Dey.
In Cooch Behar, Trinamool won two of nine Assembly seats in 2021. However, later, the party bagged the Dinhata seat in the Assembly bypoll. As of now, there are six BJP MLAs and three Trinamool MLAs in the district.
“It was yet another attempt by Trinamool to take clubs into confidence so that they help the party during the 2026 Assembly elections. But such acts won't help them as people will continue to support us across Cooch Behar,” said Dey.
Representatives of the Durga Puja committees, in and around Cooch Behar town, thanked Bhowmik.
“The assistance will definitely help us. We thank the Trinamool district president for his support ahead of the festivities,” said a senior member of a club in the town.