The Governor said that in order to make the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ a reality, today the foundation day of the state of West Bengal is being organized here at the Raj Bhavan in UP.

The state of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have unbreakable ties. A large number of residents of West Bengal have been settled in Uttar Pradesh for several generations. Our culture is our heritage.

We have to preserve it. While extending greetings and best wishes to everyone on West Bengal Foundation Day, the Governor  said that the state of West Bengal is not only known for its history and beauty, but it is also home to Kolkata, the second largest city of India, which is known as the cultural capital of India. “The culture of West Bengal is such an Indian culture, whose roots lie in Bengali literature, music, fine arts, drama, theater and cinema, etc.

The culture here is rich in festivals. Durga Puja is the main festival of the state. Along with this, festivals like Dolyatra, Rath Yatra, Rakhi Purnima, Lakshmi Puja and Saraswati Puja are celebrated with great pomp,” she said.

Referring to the rich literary heritage of Bengali language, the Governor recalled writers like Bankim Chand Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore and Sharad Chand Chattopadhyay. She said that renaissance took place in West Bengal with social reforms under the leadership of Ram Mahen Roy, Swami Vivekananda, etc. In this sequence, she also remembered great poets like Rabindranath Tagore, who composed the national anthems of India and Bangladesh.

The Governor said that many great personalities of West Bengal have brought laurels to the country by becoming ‘Nobel Prize’ winners. The Governor also informed about West Bengal getting India’s first underwater metro, free LPG gas connections to more than 90 lakh there under Ujjwala Yojana of the Central Government.

Discussing the diversity of a vast country like India, the Governor said that in view of the diversity of the country, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisaged ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ on the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the objective of which is to create a vast country like India.
While conducting the ceremony, the representative of the Bengali community and the President, Board of Trustees, Kalibari Trust, Abhijit Sarkar informed about the notable contributions of various personalities of the Bengali community living in UP in the fields of literature, art, culture, academics and business and organized the event. Later a cultural programme was held to commemorate the occasion.