Migrant detentions rekindle Bengali identity politics, trigger new churn ahead of 2026 Bengal polls

THE detention of Bengali-speaking migrant labourers in BJP-ruled states and their profiling as suspected Bangladeshis has ignited a fresh political firestorm in West Bengal, with the ruling TMC reigniting its Bengali identity pitch that had blunted the BJP's Hindutva juggernaut in the 2021 Assembly polls.

- PRADIPTA TAPADAR

With months to go for the 2026 Assembly polls, what began as isolated complaints of harassment of migrant workers has now evolved into a full-blown political flashpoint.

The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC is going all guns blazing to turn what was once a socioeconomic crisis into an emotive electoral issue, accusing BJP governments in Odisha, Assam, Delhi, Maharashtra, and Gujarat of "institutional and linguistic profiling” and "criminalisation of poverty" under guise of national security.

From branding the crackdown as a “humiliation of Bengalis" to planning massive protest rallies in Kolkata, including a July 16 march to be led by Banerjee herself, the TMC is rekindling the sub-nationalist fervour it used to great effect in 2021 through the slogan ‘Bangla Nijer Meyeke Chaye' (Bengal wants its own daughter).

The flashpoint first emerged in June, when at least seven Bengali-speaking people were pushed back to Bangladesh from Maharashtra and other states, allegedly without proper citizenship verification or intimation to the West Bengal government.

They were later repatriated through legal and diplomatic intervention after their Indian citizenship was confirmed.

Last week, Odisha Police detained 444 workers from various Bengal districts on suspicion of being illegal immigrants, though 50 were later released after submitting documents.