CM apologises after West Bengal government advertisement depicts Durga with 11 hands instead of 10

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has apologised to the people of the State after the Government published an advertisement in Monday’s (September 7, 2026) newspapers depicting Goddess Durga with 11 hands instead of 10. As Opposition leaders came down heavily on the “distortion” of the deity, BJP State President Samik Bhattacharya sought to downplay the issue, remarking that the extra hand only makes Durga “stronger”.

“As the CM of West Bengal, I apologise for the error. The people responsible have received a stern warning. In the future, the Government will be careful,” Mr. Adhikari said at a Durga Puja coordination meeting on Monday (September 7) evening.

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The advertisement published in several West Bengal newspapers sparked a major debate on social media and in political circles.

“This only makes Maa Durga stronger,” Mr. Bhattacharya said. He also added that the slip-up was a gross error by the advertising agency and said that the mistake would be rectified and that it should not be politicised.

An insult

The Trinamool Congress and Communist Party of India (Marxist) criticised the State Government. The Trinamool official social media page said that the constant mishandling of Maa Durga and Bengali culture is an insult. “A government that claims to speak for Bengal seems increasingly disconnected from Bengali culture, traditions, and the festivals that define Bengal’s identity,” the party added. 

“The picture of Maa Durga bears the name ‘Dashabhuja’ because Maa Durga has ten hands, but in the ad, it became eleven hands. How did that happen? They talk about Sanatan culture; they say distortion won’t be tolerated, yet they themselves distorted it by showing eleven hands,” Trinamool MLA Kunal Ghosh said. 

Meanwhile netizens took to social media to criticise the advertisement and called it “disrespect” of Bengali tradition and culture.

Trinamool MLA Madan Mitra also criticised the advertisement and said that as a Bengali he could not accept the distortion.

CPI(M) leader Shatarup Ghosh also posted a picture of the advertisement on his social media and said that it is a “brilliant” ad by the State Government. “The gods had armed her with ten hands to slay the Asura (demon). The BJP government, however, has bestowed an extra hand upon the Goddess — specifically to deliver a resounding slap to anyone who might issue a decree forcing Bengalis to eat vegetarian food during the Puja, and to throw them right out of the pandal and out of Bengal,” Mr. Shatarup Ghosh wrote.