Amit Shah renews ‘Sonar Bangla’ pitch for 2026 Bengal polls at a central Kolkata puja pandal

Addressing a gathering at the Operation Sindoor-themed Santosh Mitra Square Puja pandal, organised by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sajal Ghosh, Shah said, “I prayed to the Mother Goddess so that West Bengal may get such a government after the elections, which may turn the state into Sonar Bangla. Our Bengal should once again become safe, prosperous, peaceful and sujalam sufalam.”

State education minister Bratya Basu hit back, saying, “He (Shah) had raised the same pitch for Sonar Bangla ahead of the 2021 polls while praying before the Mother Goddess during the 2020 Durga Puja. They couldn’t come to power. Again, he has come back ahead of the 2026 polls. Again, they won’t be able to come to power. I would urge him to come to Bengal again during the Durga Puja in 2030 and dream of Sonar Bangla ahead of the 2031 assembly polls.”

The West Bengal assembly elections are scheduled to be held next year.

Shah, who landed in Kolkata late on Thursday night, inaugurated another puja pandal at the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC) in Salt Lake, organised by the BJP-backed Paschim Banga Sanskriti Mancha, and visited Kalighat Temple on Friday.