12,400 new Durga Pujas get West Bengal Govt nod: CM
With the new BJP Government giving all kinds of assurances of administrative cooperation to the Durga Puja organisers, Bengal has witnessed a massive increase of about 12,400 new Durga Pujas being organised in the State, taking the total tally to about 57,500 in 2026.
The announcement came from Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who said that the new Pujas were being organised after they received State permission. Consequently, the state power department estimated that the peak power demand for the festival could go beyond 14,000 MW on October 13, on Tritiya or the third day of the Pujas.
This is due to the increased installation of lights and pandals.
“Earlier, (during the Mamata Banerjee Government) you had to go to the High Court to organise Durga pujas. It was very sad to see that many Puja committees were not given permission… I do not think there is a single such case this time. Compared to the number of Durga pujas held in 2025, we have 12,400 more pujas this year,” the Chief Minister said even as he went on inaugurating Durga Puja pandals post Mahalaya.
“Earlier no regard was given to customary rituals and the traditional Hindu astrological almanack when Pujas were inaugurated before the Mahalaya in Pitripaksha, which is inauspicious … but this year, every small instruction of the Hindu directory would be maintained, and no inauguration will take place before Mahalaya,” Adhikari said at a puja pandal.
Till last year, “about 45,000 baroari (community) Durga Pujas were organised in Bengal… but this year the number has gone up to 57,500, meaning that the administration has given permission to 12,400 more Puja committees to organise their Pujas… the administration is on a high alert mode … the security comes first, and that is being practised,” said a senior official in the Home Ministry, adding there has been an addition of about 400 Pujas in Capital Kolkata only.
About 685 Durga Pujas are being organised in Jadavpur police division only, the official said, adding that a large police force has been deployed throughout the metro city to control the flow of the crowd.
“The Chief Minister had already assured the people that no person will be stopped from organising Pujas or saying his prayers… now you can proudly call yourself a Hindu, and there is no stopping anyone from performing his Puja or saying his prayer,” said BJP MLA Sajal Ghosh, himself a chief organiser of a top Durga Puja committee at Raja Santosh Mitra Square.
