IT'S RAINING IDENTITY POLITICS

'Being Bengali' is the hot new theme for the 2026 assembly poll. As reports pile up of Bengali-speaking migrant workers being branded 'illegal citizens' in BJP-ruled states, the TMC finds an apt moment to ratchet up the rhetoric

- BY ARKAMOY DATTA MAJUMDAR

AS WEST BENGAL GEARS UP FOR THE 2026 ASSEMBLY ELECTION, the ruling Trinamool Congress has plunged headlong into an emotionally charged campaign centred on identity politics. At the heart of this campaign lies a powerful narrative: the defence of Bengali linguistic and cultural pride amid what the party alleges is an organised effort to harass, criminalise and deport Bengali-speaking migrant workers from BJP-ruled states. The incidents, TMC leaders claim, are part of a wider attempt to delegitimise Bengali identity across India. This endeavour is also tied to the BJP's efforts to shed a past filled with conflicting signals, bordering on antagonistic, on Bengalihood—with a distinctively north Indian accent. The latest reparative gesture came with the naming of Samik Bhattacharya as state BJP chief. While a dyed-in-the-wool Sangh product, his relatively sober persona gels better with the old bhadralok prototype. His coronation event, too, was saturated by Bengali religious iconography, especially that of goddess Kali.

All reasons, therefore, existed for the TMC to mount a military-style area denial operation. That reached its crescendo with a mammoth rally in central Kolkata on July 16. With chief minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC scion Abhishek Banerjee on the podium, full-throated commitment to the cause was guaranteed. The BJP, Mamata alleged, was trying to reduce Bengalis to the status of 'infiltrators' in their own country. In pouring rain, she brought the teeming crowds to boiling point, claiming the Centre had secretly instructed BJP-ruled states to arrest and deport Bengali-speaking individuals, often without cause. “Why are you torturing Bengalis? People are being arrested even after showing documents. What was their fault? Just speaking in Bengali?” she demanded. The TMC has not been alone in raising the alarm. On July 15, the CPI(M), too, organised a march to show solidarity with Bengali-speaking migrants.