Kolkata: CPM has increased the number of bookstalls around Kali Puja pandals in Kolkata to 14 from eight last year, buoyed by the “support from common people” after the attacks on its stalls during Durga Puja, party functionaries said.Veteran Biman Bose inaugurated a stall on Amherst Street on Friday evening, hours before CM Suvendu Adhikari arrived there to inaugurate a slew of Kali Pujas. New stalls include those at Ballygunge Tantibagan and Behala Silpara. Party senior Sujan Chakraborty said workers across Bengal were putting up more stalls.“The way people from all sections of society condemned the attacks on bookstalls during Durga Puja made it clear that this kind of politics has no place in our state. The number of book stalls during Kali Puja has increased this year,” Chakraborty said.He said the enthusiasm among workers was visible during Durga Puja too. “We had 1,106 book stalls across Bengal compared to 1,010 last year. We sold books worth Rs 1.53 crore, up from Rs 90 lakh,” he said.Kali Puja stalls are smaller, mostly 10×5 ft, and stay open for two or three days, from a day or two before the puja to a day or two after. “We sold books worth Rs 50,000 from the eight stalls last year,” a party senior said.The stalls will carry books on history, social issues, travel, Marxist thought and children’s literature.
