Prime Minister Tarique Rahman returned to Dhaka early on Wednesday after visiting Durga Puja mandaps in Rangpur, Rajshahi and Chattogram and exchanging greetings with members of the Hindu community during a daylong tour marking Sharadiya Durga Puja.
He arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 1:10am by a military aircraft after completing his visits to the three divisional cities on Maha Navami yesterday.
Tarique left Dhaka at 9am on Tuesday and first visited the historic Radha Gobinda Dharmasabha Temple in Rangpur, where he exchanged greetings with devotees.
He later visited the Dharmasabha Temple in Rajshahi, where he handed over a cheque for 10 lakh taka to the temple authorities and interacted with members of the Hindu community.
During the interaction, community members requested that he consider establishing a fund to support the celebration of puja and the construction of temples. They also expressed satisfaction with the government's increased grants and support for this year's Durga Puja celebrations.
At a public rally in Rajshahi, the Prime Minister digitally transferred 12 crore taka in incentives to 38,970 sugarcane farmers in the region to support cultivation.
Later in the evening, Tarique visited the JM Sen Hall Puja mandap in Rahmatganj, Chattogram, where he exchanged greetings with members of the Hindu community and attended an exchange of views.
During the visits, devotees welcomed the Prime Minister with greetings and cultural programmes, while party leaders, activists and supporters lined roadsides in different areas to greet him.
BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, Cultural Affairs Minister Nitai Roy Chowdhury, BNP Standing Committee Member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs State Minister Mir Mohammed Helal Uddin, Prime Minister's Special Assistant Bijon Kanti Sarkar, lawmaker Nipun Roy Chowdhury and BNP Joint Organising Secretary Jayanta Kumar Kundu, among others, accompanied him on his return to Dhaka.
The five-day Sharadiya Durga Puja festivities conclude today with the immersion of idols on Bijoya Dashami.