India News | Mamata Urges PM to Declare Gangasagar Mela a National Fair
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Describing the Gangasagar Mela as one of the world's largest religious congregations, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to declare it as a "national fair".
Kolkata, Jan 11 (PTI) Describing the Gangasagar Mela as one of the world's largest religious congregations, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to declare it as a "national fair".
Earlier this week, Banerjee had expressed regret that the Centre is not giving due recognition to the Gangasagar Mela, which is visited by lakhs of pilgrims for taking a holy dip at the confluence of the Ganga and the Bay of Bengal during Makar Sankranti every year.
"Considering the uniqueness, significance, magnitude and spiritual depth associated with the Gangasagar Mela, I would earnestly appeal to you to kindly consider declaring Gangasagar Mela a National Fair," she wrote to Modi.
She also urged the prime minister to pay a visit to the Gangasagar Mela.
"You are kindly aware that the Gangasagar Mela is one of the largest, spiritual human congregations in the world. In size, it is next only to the Kumbh Mela. But, in significance, the Mela is no less magnificent for various reasons," she mentioned.
As the Kumbh Mela has been recognised as a national fair, the same status should be granted to Gangasagar Mela, Banerjee said.
The chief minister said in the letter that she had made this request earlier also but the decision is still awaited.
She also claimed that around one crore pilgrims visited Gangasagar Mela last year and it "is likely to surpass this number".
Later speaking to the media, the Bengal CM said that her government this year spent Rs 250 crore to organise the Mela.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)