Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati was to inaugurate the festival, but she could not come as she had a meeting with Chief Minister Raghubar Das in Ranchi, BJP's Rajmahal MLA Ananth Kumar Ojha said.
BJP spokesman Pradip Sinha had yesterday said Bharati would visit Sahibganj to see the Ganga River there and then would proceed to Farakka located in West Bengal's Malda district, which is about 30 km from Rajmahal.