Union MoS Prataprao Jadhav with West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari during a press meet regarding the International Yoga Day in Kolkata, scheduled to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Howrah, Thursday, June 18, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Over 35,000 people will participate in the mass yoga demonstration session on International Yoga Day celebrations at Kolkata’s Red Road on June 21. The session will be led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (June 21, 2026) morning. This will be the Prime Minister’s first visit to West Bengal since he attended Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s swearing-in after the Bharatiya Janta Party came to power. At an official meet in Nabanna (State Secretariat), Mr. Adhikari said it was a matter of pride that the Prime Minister and other administrators had chosen Kolkata as their main centre to celebrate Yoga Day. “On the 12th International Yoga Day, for the first time, the West Bengal government is officially participating in the celebrations, which has brought joy for the people... I hope under the leadership of Mr. Modi, we [Bengal] will be able to set many records on this day,” Mr. Adhikari said. He urged everyone in the State to take part in the event on June 21. The mass yoga demonstrations will also simultaneously take place in multiple locations across the State, including educational institutions and parks. Many training sessions have already taken place in many districts. Minister of State (IC) for Ayush, Prataprao Jadhav, was also present at the event along with West Bengal Health Minister Dr. Sharadwat Mukherjee. Government departments along with the police will coordinate the events across the State. Mr. Jadhav said the government was trying to make yoga an everyday part of people’s lives, and not one-day celebrations, to ensure a healthier lifestyle. West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Agarwal said this day was important for India because yoga started in India before anywhere else in the world. The International Yoga Day event has been made mandatory for all West Bengal government employees, and they have to take part in the mass yoga session from 6.30 a.m. to 7.45 a.m. from their respective offices, homes, and Red Road and Milan Mela. Paschimbanga DivasOn June 20, 1947, Jan Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mookerjee moved a proposal in the West Bengal Assembly calling for the partition of Bengal, which, the BJP says, built the way for a “homeland for the Hindus of Bengal”. The current State government has chosen this very day to celebrate the Paschimbanga Divas. In this backdrop, Mr. Adhikari and the top BJP leadership had asked for a celebration of Mookerjee and his contributions to Bengal. “June 20 is not merely a date. Paschimbanga Divas is not a celebration of a date. It is a reminder of what was saved, what could have been lost, and whose courage made the difference. Remember the day. Remember the man,” the West Bengal BJP official page on social media wrote, calling for widespread celebrations of the day. Published - June 18, 2026 08:01 pm IST
