KOLKATA: Congress president Rahul Gandhi may not be able to make it to the Durga Puja celebrations in Kolkata despite giving his initial nod to requests from West Bengal Congress leaders during a meeting in New Delhi.West Bengal Pradesh Congress president Somen Mitra doesn’t see a chance of Gandhi’s coming to the College Square Durga Puja following the announcement of assembly polls in five states. “We had met him before the Election Commission announced the assembly poll schedule for five states. Now that the elections have been announced, he will be busy with the campaign and selection of candidates for the polls. I don’t think he can make it to Kolkata this time,” Mitra said. The Pradesh Congress president, however, added that there has been no formal communication from the Congress president’s office cancelling the Kolkata trip.Mitra’s comment has put to rest speculation over Rahul Gandhi’s Durga Puja visit that did the rounds among enthusiasts at College Square while West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi was inaugurating the Puja on Saturday.Gandhi’s proposed visit to Kolkata during the Pujas had kicked off a debate in Bengal political circles. While some took the Congress president’s stance as “soft Hindutva”, a section of Congress workers took it as “smart secularism” at a time when chief minister Mamata Banerjee is showcasing herself as Hindu and reciting hymns without compromising with her secular stance. BJP, on the other hand, had mocked at Rahul Gandhi over his temple visits during the Gujarat assembly polls. The Bengal BJP, on the other hand, claimed it as the party’s success of making leaders flaunt their Hindu identity when BJP was making dents in Bengal politics. “Where was his Hinduism all this while? Why is chief minister Mamata Banerjee reciting Hindu mantras shedding the hijab she used to don once? These are all because people across the country and also in West Bengal are listening to our views,” BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu said.The West Bengal Pradesh Congress president, however, didn’t want to read much into the Congress president’s proposed Kolkata visit during Durga Puja.

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