Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday postponed her administrative and political activities scheduled for the first week of the New Year, including her visit to Sagar Island to oversee the preparedness for the mega annual congregation there, and rescheduled most of those activities to the week after.

Although there is no official communication for the reason for this postponement, a source in the state government said Mamata was advised to rest for at least a week, as she underwent a minor surgery on her right shoulder at the SSKM Hospital on Friday.

“She would have had to travel by air and by road, as most of the events are outside Calcutta. Although there is no serious illness, doctors suggested rest for at least a week,” a senior state government official said.

Mamata usually visits Sagar Island to oversee the preparedness of the fair in the first week of January. She prefers not to visit the place when the Gangasagar Mela is on, to avoid putting additional pressure on the administration.

She was scheduled to visit the island this time on Wednesday and Thursday, which was rescheduled.

“Now she will inaugurate the Gangasagar Mela on January 8, during a two-day trip. The chief minister will be at the island till January 9,” said a senior official in South 24-Parganas. The fair will continue till January 17.

The Gangasagar Mela is a major congregation where lakhs from around the country visit the island to visit temples and take a dip in the Gangasagar on Makar Sankranti.

On Thursday, Mamata was also to attend a public benefits distribution event at Jaynagar in the same district, which has now been rescheduled to January 9.

“All the officials in the district will be busy with Gangasagar once the fair is kicked off by the chief minister. It would be a tough ask for the local administration to arrange another mega event like a public distribution programme on January 9. However, they would have to make a different plan with a set of additional officials,” a source said.

Before going to Gangasagar Mela, Mamata was to attend another event at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Calcutta on Tuesday. A source said she is unlikely to do so now.

Besides health reasons, the chief minister also wants to monitor the activities of the state secretariat, following the appointments of the new chief secretary, home secretary, and director-general of police, sources said.

”She would like to do a bit of overseeing their initiation into the posts, as a handholding exercise, as they are taking charge at a crucial time, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections,” said a source.