After almost a week of religiosity on the southernmost tip of Sagar island in West Bengal, the Ganga Sagar Mela drew to a close on Tuesday. The West Bengal government has described the annual religious gathering as a huge success putting the figure of pilgrims who had descended on the Island about 120 km from Kolkata at a record 1.10 crore.
Throughout the seven-day religious gathering, Ministers of the Trinamool Congress government raised the pitch that the religious congregation be declared a ‘National Mela’. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 11 raising the demand and highlighting the uniqueness and spiritual and religious significance of the mela.
“If the Centre does not accept our demand then from the next year we are going to call it a ‘National Mela’ on our own,” Minister of Power, Sports and Youth Affairs and Housing Arup Biswas said.
