CM Bhagwant Mann joins Chhath Pooja in Dhuri, Sangrur
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
At the ghats of Dhuri in Sangrur district, the sun and the festival met a Chief Minister. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann attended Chhath Pooja celebrations in the town on Sunday, 15 November 2026, joining devotees in one of the most visually spectacular folk observances in the Hindu calendar.
Speaking at the event, Mann said the Punjab Government had made 'comprehensive arrangements' for Chhath Pooja celebrations across the state. The festival, which sees worshippers — many of them with roots in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh — wade into water bodies at sunrise and sunset to offer prayers to the Sun God, demands significant logistical coordination: crowd management, water-body safety, temporary infrastructure, and lighting.
A festival that travels with its people
Chhath Pooja has grown steadily beyond its eastern Indian heartland, carried westward and northward by migrant communities who have made states like Punjab their home. The festival's presence in multiple Punjab districts in recent years reflects both the demographic footprint of that migration and the state government's recognition of a culturally diverse electorate.
Indian state governments routinely extend logistical and security support for large religious gatherings — not merely as administrative routine, but as a visible signal of cultural inclusivity. CM Mann's personal presence at Dhuri amplifies that signal, putting the Chief Minister on the ghat rather than behind a press release.
Dhuri as a symbolic venue
Dhuri, a mid-sized town in Sangrur — a district that has historically been a stronghold of the Aam Aadmi Party — was the chosen backdrop for the Chief Minister's participation. The choice of a Sangrur venue for a statewide announcement on festival arrangements keeps the optics local and accessible, grounding the government's claim of pan-Punjab preparedness in a specific, verifiable moment.
For the communities who observe Chhath — rising before dawn, standing in cold water, eyes fixed on the horizon — the Chief Minister's presence is less about politics and more about acknowledgement. That, in itself, is the story.