Kolkata: West Bengal’s BJP unit has turned Durga Puja into its newest political weapon, blending faith, spectacle and strategy to counter the TMC’s “anti-Bengali” charge and script a cultural counter-offensive ahead of the 2026 assembly polls.
From dispatching over a hundred leaders to other states to woo diaspora Bengalis, to reviving its once showpiece puja at Salt Lake’s Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, scaling up bookstalls across pandals and rolling out prize-rich contests for organisers, the saffron party is seeking to stitch itself into Bengal’s cultural fabric, reframe its identity and challenge the TMC’s monopoly over “Bangali asmita” (Bengali pride).
Party strategists describe the move as symbolism fused with strategy — marrying religion with identity politics to blunt Mamata Banerjee’s long-running narrative that the BJP is an “outsider” force in Bengal.
Although this outreach may not directly translate to votes, party strategists believe it will create a ripple effect, as migrant Bengalis may influence their families and networks back home during elections. The campaign aims to counter the TMC’s portrayal of the BJP as culturally insensitive, addressing criticisms regarding leaders’ language skills and accusations of imposing Hindi culture.
The BJP is also re-establishing its Durga Puja at the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, which had previously been a significant cultural event for the party. Initially launched in 2020 and virtually inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the puja lost momentum after the 2021 elections. However, it has now returned, organized by the Paschim Banga Sanskriti Mancha, a BJP-affiliated initiative.
Rudranil Ghosh, convenor of the BJP’s cultural cell, emphasized that the initiative focuses on community bonding rather than political maneuvering. In contrast, TMC leaders have dismissed the BJP’s efforts as mere “desperate optics.”
The BJP is also capitalizing on Durga Puja bookstalls, which have traditionally been associated with the Left and TMC. The party aims to increase the number of stalls from 8,000 last year to 36,000 this season, with a diverse range of curated content including books on India’s heritage, the Ram temple movement, and the Citizenship Amendment Act.
In Balurghat, Majumdar has introduced the Sangsad Sharad Samman and a Shobhayatra Protijogita, offering prize money of up to Rs 3 lakh for immersion tableaux. The BJP is ensuring a strong ministerial presence at major pujas, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah expected to inaugurate significant pandals, including Santosh Mitra Square and the EZCC Pujas. Adhikari is set to inaugurate around 120 Durga Pujas across the state, while Bhattacharya and other leaders have numerous invitations lined up.
Despite the BJP’s efforts, the TMC maintains a dominant position in the Durga Puja landscape, having controlled nearly 95 percent of all puja committees since 2011, although it has begun to lose some ground to the BJP in recent years.
