The prime minister later attended an exchange-of-views meeting with members of the Hindu community.
BSS
20 October, 2026, 07:15 pm
Last modified: 20 October, 2026, 07:25 pm
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman today (20 October) visited a Durga Puja mandap at Dharmasabha Temple in Rajshahi after visiting Rangpur, as part of his daylong tour of three divisions to exchange greetings with members of the Hindu community on the occasion of Sharadiya Durga Puja.
The prime minister reached the temple at 5:15pm after addressing a public meeting at the historic Haji Muhammad Mohsin Government High School ground in Rajshahi.
He was welcomed by Dharmasabha Temple President Professor Bishwanath Sarkar, Vice-President Achinta Kumar Biswas, General Secretary Biswajit Biswas and other temple leaders.
The prime minister later attended an exchange-of-views meeting with members of the Hindu community. They requested him to consider establishing a fund for celebrating puja and setting up temples. They also expressed satisfaction with the government's increased grants and support for this year's Durga Puja celebrations.
Tarique Rahman handed over a cheque for Tk 10 lakh to the temple authorities.
Temple Treasurer Ashok Kumar Sarkar, Organising Secretary Subrata Roy, Joint General Secretary Prashanta Kumar Debnath, Office Secretary Akash Kumar Das, Publicity Secretary Swapan Kumar Ghosh, Joint Secretary Sukumar Sarkar, Mahendra Chandra Sarkar Sanat Kumar Saha, Debashish Roy Madhu, temple priest Bidyut Kumar Majumder, assistant priest Muaz Majumder, and sebaits Dr Shikha Sarkar and Samamita Biswas were also present.
This was the prime minister's first visit to Rajshahi since forming the government after the BNP won a majority of seats in the 13th parliamentary election.
The prime minister was accompanied by BNP Standing Committee Member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Women and Children Affairs Minister Professor AZM Zahid Hossain, BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Cultural Affairs Minister Nitai Roy Chowdhury, State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam, Prime Minister's Adviser Rehan Asif Asad, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Bijon Kanti Sarker and BNP Special Secretary Belayet Hossain Mridha, among others.
Earlier in the day, Tarique Rahman departed Tejgaon Airport in Dhaka at 9:00am and arrived at Saidpur Airport in Nilphamari at 9:50am by a military aircraft.
From Saidpur, he travelled to Rangpur, where he addressed roadside gatherings at Taraganj and Paglapir and visited the puja mandap at Radha Gobinda Temple to exchange greetings with devotees.
The prime minister is scheduled to travel to Chattogram to visit the puja mandap at JM Sen Hall in Rahmatganj before returning to Dhaka tonight.
Earlier, he visited puja mandaps in Dhaka's Mohakhali and Banani areas with his wife, Dr Zubaida Rahman.
Maha Navami, the ninth day of the Sharadiya Durga Puja festival, falls today. The five-day festivities will conclude tomorrow with the immersion of idols on Bijoya Dashami.