TMC to celebrate Dev Deepawali, attract Hindi-speaking city residents

Kolkata is set to witness a glittering spectacle this week as the Trinamul Congress (TMC) takes a leaf out of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's playbook on coming Wednesday, seeking to woo Hindi-speaking voters ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.

- RAJIB CHAKRABORTY

Inspired by the grand Ayodhya Deepotsav and the Dev Deepawali festivities of Varanasi, the ruling party is making an elaborate bid to project Bengal's own version of the Dev Deepawali celebration along the ghats of the Hooghly. For the TMC, the festival carries more than religious or cultural significance. The move is being seen as a strategic outreach to the Hindi-speaking Hindu population of the state, a voter base that tilted significantly toward the BJP in the last Lok Sabha elections. Determined to reclaim that ground, the TMC leadership has decided to promote the North Indian festival on a large scale, with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and its Hindi-speaking councillors taking centre stage.