Billboard with Goddess Durga beside pot of biryani sparks row in Hooghly

An artist prepares an idol of Goddess Durga at his workshop on October 12, 2026 | Photo Credit: ANI

A billboard of a biryani outlet featuring an image of Goddess Durga next to a pot of biryani has sparked a controversy in West Bengal's Hooghly, with a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA alleging it had hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. 

The poster was placed outside a high-rise residential complex in Uttarpara's Hindmotor area. It featured a Bengali tagline that translates to ‘Devotion to the Goddess this puja... rockstar flavour’.

A group of locals gathered in front of the poster on Sunday (October 11, 2026), questioning who had authorised the use of the goddess's image alongside a non-vegetarian dish, a police official said. The shopkeeper was later asked to remove all such posters, the official said.

The BJP's Uttarpara MLA Dipanjan Chakraborty demanded the immediate removal of the poster. "This cannot be tolerated. It is not about eating non-vegetarian food. How can anyone dare to put up an image of Maa Durga alongside biryani?" he said, claiming the billboard had hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. Legal action would be taken if similar advertisements were found in future, he said.

Earlier, a row erupted when a religious outfit circulated a poster in Siliguri, urging people to buy biryani only from Hindu shopkeepers.