They are all equals at the top of the Trinamul Congress pile, comrades united in the cause of Mamata Banerjee, but every autumn, they turn into fierce competitors, not in politics, but Puja.

Till the paribartan, the biggest social festival in Bengal used to see many divides — north versus south of Calcutta, theme versus traditional décor, neighbourhood versus neighbourhood — but since 2011, the greatest divide of them all is the one that separates Mamata’s trusted lieutenants, vying to make their pujas the biggest crowd-pullers in the city.

While some, like Subrata Mukherjee, are veterans now, having been in the game since the ’70s, others, such as Aroop Biswas, are not to be taken lightly, although they have emerged on the scene in the last decade.

“During Puja, our party gets divided into numerous camps, but this factional feud is fun to watch. The big guns behave like schoolboys with their pujas,” said Ekdalia Evergreen veteran Mukherjee.

Panchayat minister Mukherjee, who got involved with pujas since his university days, has been associated with the Ekdalia Evergreen puja since 1972, a year after he moved to Ballygunge after winning the Assembly polls from there.

“Ours is a traditional puja. We do not apply for any awards and are not into any competitions like the theme pujas. But, yes, we keenly observe other traditional pujas in the city,” added Mukherjee.

Trinamul secretary-general and education minister Partha Chatterjee, brought to the Naktala Udayan Sangha by the late footballer Krishanu Dey in 1991, became the vice-chairman of the club a decade later, while Left Front minister Kshiti Goswami was the chairman. Since Trinamul came to power, Chatterjee has been the chairman, proactively organising the puja.

Urban development minister Firhad Hakim, who was famous for a Kali Puja before foraying into the Durga Puja in 1992, had – according to sources close to him – faced several roadblocks for organising Hindu festivals while being a Muslim. But support from influential friends never fell short and he turned the Chetla Agrani Club puja into one of the biggest in the city.

PWD minister Biswas was relatively a late-starter compared to many of his cabinet colleagues, but he too established the Suruchi Sangha puja in New Alipore.

There are several others in the big league -- such as Bidhannagar MLA Sujit Bose with Sreebhumi Sporting Club and mayoral council member Debashis Kumar with Tridhara Sammilani.

“Didi has always encouraged us to make it a spectacular event. We do everything to ensure that,” said Sreebhumi president Bose.

Partha Chatterjee File picture