A Durga temple in West Bengal's Asansol, shut for several years due to local tensions, reopened its doors to devotees on Monday following the BJP’s sweeping victory in the West Bengal Assembly polls.
Managed by the Shri Shri Durgamata Charitable Trust, the temple had remained largely inaccessible throughout the year, with worship limited to festivals like Durga Puja and Lakshmi Puja. The temple's reopening came after the BJP secured all nine Assembly seats in Paschim Bardhaman district, under which Asansol falls, sparking enthusiasm among locals.
The temple’s prolonged closure had been linked to tensions between communities and administrative restrictions, making the development particularly significant for the people there. Soon after the gates were opened, devotees and BJP workers gathered in large numbers, offering prayers and celebrating the moment.
BJP’s newly-elected MLA from Asansol Uttar, Krishnendu Mukherjee, who had promised to open the temple for the whole year if he won, visited the temple and facilitated its reopening.
For many residents, the moment goes beyond religion, emerging as a symbolic marker of political change in the region following the BJP’s electoral success.
In a huge upset, the BJP dethroned the Trinamool Congress (TMC), winning 206 of 293 seats, and ending Mamata Banerjee's rule after 15 years. The party comfortably crossed the halfway mark of 147, well ahead of the TMC, which managed only 80 seats. The TMC is leading in one seat – Rajarhat New Town – as one more round of counting is left.
West Bengal voted in two phases on April 23 and 29, with a turnout of over 92 per cent recorded. Repolling will take place in Falta on May 21, citing "severe electoral offences and subversion of the democratic process".
Results for the Falta seat will be declared on May 24.
