Bakrid holiday cut to one day in Bengal

KOLKATA: Bengal’s new BJP govt has slashed a two-day holiday for Eid-ud-Zoha or Bakrid announced by the previous TMC administration to one day. In a notification issued Saturday, the BJP govt announced the Bakrid holiday would be observed on May 28.

Earlier, the official holiday calendar announced at the beginning of the year by the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC govt, two days — May 26 and 27 — had been earmarked as holidays for Bakrid under Negotiable Instruments (NI) Act.

But with the festival being celebrated on May 28, the BJP govt rescheduled the dates and announced a oneday holiday. All offices will function normally on May 26 and 27, the notification said.

The Mamata-led administration had significantly expanded the state’s holiday calendar since it took charge in 2011. These included a two-day holiday for Eid-ul-Fitr as well as Chhath.

On many occasions, when Lakshmi Puja was on aThursday or a Monday, the TMC govt had announced an extra holiday to club it into a long weekend. According to political observers, the latest move signals the BJP govt’s intent to end the previous administration’s “holiday culture”.