Kolkata, February 18 Senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has urged Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to declare a three-day holiday in West Bengal on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.
In a letter to Banerjee on Tuesday, the former state Congress president said that like Durga Puja, the Eid celebration is also done over several days.
"I demand that instead of the current one-day holiday, a three-day holiday be declared by the state government," Chowdhury told reporters at Baharampur in Murshidabad district.
Chowdhury demanded that the days before and after Eid-ul-Fitr be declared holidays in addition to the holiday on the festival day.
The five-time MP from Baharampur in Murshidabad district, which has a Muslim majority population, lost the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to Trinamool Congress candidate Yusuf Pathan.
Chowdhury also demanded that the state government ensure that prices of essentials are regulated during the period so that people of the Muslim community do not face any hardship during the Ramzan, which is observed before Ed-ul-Fitr.
The TMC leadership, terming Chowdhury's demands as a gimmick, asked why the Congress leader was making these demands before the assembly elections in West Bengal.
"Why is he making such demands only specific to West Bengal? He is a leader of an all-India party, he can ask his party leadership to make such demands at the national level," TMC spokesperson Jaiprakash Majumdar said.
He, however, said that any decision on such issues will be taken by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
