Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates Durga Puja pandals in Kolkata via video conferencing as the five-day celebrations begin in West Bengal amid the pandemic. Listing an array of Bengali freedom fighters, writers, artistes and others, the PM remarked: "If I continue to take names of such Bengalis, we will come to the end of the day, but the names shall continue." The BJP, prepping for the Bengal election just months away, made elaborate arrangements for the live-viewing of PM Modi's virtual address. TV screens were put up in all the 78,000 election booth areas across the state.