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.
