Sonowal joins Durga Puja celebrations across Tinsukia
Synopsis
Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal visited Durga Puja pandals in Ledo, Digboi, Tinsukia Sadar and Makum in Tinsukia district on 18 October 2026, joining devotees in Sharadiya Durga Utsav celebrations and praying for peace and prosperity for all.
Key Takeaways
Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal visited Durga Puja pandals in Tinsukia district on 18 October 2026 .
The four locations covered were Ledo , Digboi , Tinsukia Sadar , and Makum .
Sonowal described the festival as a union of devotion, joy, and communal harmony in his Assamese-language post.
He prayed that Maa Durga's blessings bring happiness, peace, and prosperity to all.
Tinsukia is historically significant as an oil-belt district with a diverse, multi-ethnic community.
Sonowal served as Chief Minister of Assam from 2016 to 2021 before taking up his central cabinet role.
The colour and devotion of Sharadiya Durga Utsav drew Union Ports and Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal back to the heartland of upper Assam on Saturday, 18 October 2026, as he visited puja pandals across Tinsukia district to celebrate the festival with local devotees.
Posting in Assamese, the Minister described the occasion as a wondrous confluence of devotion, joy, and communal harmony — bhakti, ananda aru sampritir apurba milane ('a beautiful union of devotion, joy, and togetherness'). He shared blessings received at pandals in Ledo, Digboi, Tinsukia Sadar, and Makum, praying that Maa Durga's grace fill every life with happiness, peace, and prosperity.
Oil towns, old roots: Tinsukia's festival spirit
Tinsukia district is no ordinary slice of Assam. Its towns — Ledo, Digboi, Tinsukia Sadar, and Makum — carry the weight of the subcontinent's oil history, home to one of India's oldest refineries and a mosaic of ethnic communities that have long made Durga Puja a shared celebration. The festival here draws devotees across linguistic and community lines, and the pandals are as much community gathering points as they are sites of worship.A minister's roots run deep
Sonowal, who served as Chief Minister of Assam from 2016 to 2021 before moving to the Union Cabinet, has consistently maintained close ties with the state's cultural and religious calendar. Senior leaders from Assam who now hold central roles routinely return during the autumn festival season — not to announce policy, but to affirm the bonds that politics, at its most durable, is built upon. The gesture carries its own quiet significance. In a season when Durga Puja pandals across Assam and West Bengal pulse with collective energy, a Union Minister choosing to spend festival hours in small oil-belt towns rather than a capital city speaks directly to a constituency — cultural, emotional, and electoral at once. Maa Durga's blessings, it turns out, travel well from Delhi back home.Point of View
Non-glamorous towns — Ledo, Digboi, Makum, Tinsukia Sadar — rather than a larger city reflects a deliberate grassroots connect strategy. For BJP leadership that has historically drawn strength from Assam's diverse communities, such cultural affirmations double as soft political capital. It signals that the transition to Delhi has not severed the umbilical cord to upper Assam.
NationPress
18 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Where did Sarbananda Sonowal celebrate Durga Puja in 2026?
Sonowal visited puja pandals in Ledo, Digboi, Tinsukia Sadar, and Makum in Tinsukia district of upper Assam on 18 October 2026.
What did Sonowal say about Durga Puja celebrations?
Posting in Assamese, he called the festival a wondrous union of devotion, joy, and communal harmony, and prayed that Maa Durga's blessings bring happiness, peace, and prosperity to everyone.
Is Sarbananda Sonowal from Tinsukia district?
Sonowal is a senior leader from Assam who served as Chief Minister of Assam from 2016 to 2021 before becoming a Union Minister. Tinsukia is part of his broader upper Assam base.
Why is Tinsukia significant during Durga Puja?
Tinsukia district, home to historic oil towns like Digboi and Ledo, has a diverse multi-ethnic population that has long made Durga Puja a major shared celebration across community lines.
What is Sharadiya Durga Utsav?
Sharadiya Durga Utsav is the annual autumn festival honouring Goddess Durga, marked by elaborately decorated pandals, community worship, and cultural events across Assam and West Bengal.
