The Visva-Bharati authorities have stepped away from Santiniketan’s tradition of Pous Mela this year, but an alternative fair bearing the same name will be held in Bolpur from Thursday with the state government’s support.

While the state government is using its machinery to ensure a flawless fair, the local leadership of the Trinamul Congress has stepped in to make the event successful in a bid to “show the Visva-Bharati authorities and its Chancellor Narendra Modi that the tradition of hosting the fair can continue even without the varsity’s support”.

The five-day fair will be inaugurated on Thursday morning in the presence of members of Santiniketan Trust, the official organisers of the event since the time of Rabindranath Tagore, descendants of Tagore’s family, Santiniketan old-timers and varsity alumni. The fair, which will be held at the Dakbungalow ground in Bolpur, will have around 800 stalls and cultural programmes held in keeping with tradition of Pous Mela.

“We can’t allow Tagore’s tradition to die, something that the BJP and the varsity’s vice-chancellor want. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the varsity’s Chancellor and we are not ready to believe that he is unaware of the goings on in Santiniketan. We decided to help in holding the fair as it is a matter of tradition and also an event that boosts local economy,” said Chandranath Sinha, who is an MLA from Bolpur and minister in the department of medium, small and micro enterprises. Descendant of Rabindranath’s family Supriyo Tagore will be present at the inaugural programme of the fair.

Atig Ghosh, the varsity’s spokesperson, did not take calls or reply to a text message asking why the varsity did not organise the fair.