Durga idol at Puja Pandal, organized by Hindu Mahasabha at Ruby Crossing in SouthWest Kolkata represented Asura as Gandhi. It immediately evoked controversy across the city and only after police interventions, the idol of Asura was modified.
Organisers Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, however, claimed that it was a "coincidence" that the Mahishasur idol, which had a bald head and was dressed in a white dhoti and round glasses, bore resemblance to Gandhi, but social media was not convinced.
"Immediately arrest the officials of Hindu Mahasabha for depicting Mahatma Gandhi as asura in a Durga Puja at Kolkata," tweeted one Atanu Chakravarty, tagging Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
"The Durga idol that was worshipped here initially had a Mahisasur whose face looked similar to that of Mahatma Gandhi. The similarities are just a coincidence. After photos of it went viral, a police team visited the pandal and asked us to change the face," Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha state working President Chandrachur Goswami told PTI.
Goswami said the organisation didn't mean to hurt anybody's sentiments. "The police asked us to change it, and we obliged. We put a moustache and hair on Mahishasur's idol," he said.