Ram To Kali, Veg To Mutton: With Samik As Boss, BJP Gets Belated Image Makeover In Bengal
With the assembly election results due in May 2026, there is limited time for BJP's cadres and leaders to capitalise on these changes
It was late March 2021, and the West Bengal election campaign was at its peak as the summer in rural parts became unbearable. In the Lalgarh area of Jhargram district, once a Maoist stronghold, the Bharatiya Janata Party held an election rally. Locals, mostly from the Santhal community, gathered to listen in the sweltering afternoon when the star speaker, Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, arrived and delivered his nearly 30-minute speech, ending with ' Jai Shri Ram '. There was hardly any applause. The lack of response wasn't due to dislike for Maurya, but because the Santhals of Bengal barely understand Bengali, let alone Hindi—a simple fact the BJP local leadership overlooked. Many BJP national leaders in Bengal in 2021 failed to make an impact.
For years, it was evident, but very few Bengal BJP leaders had the courage to tell the party's central leadership that they were seen as outsiders. While this perception is largely due to the ruling Trinamool Congress's well-planned narrative curated by poll strategists I-PAC, part of the blame lies with the BJP. After their loss, BJP leaders began speaking openly, with some turning rebel within party forums. Four years later, with less than a year until the next assembly election, the BJP seems to have recognised the merit in those arguments and has recalibrated to align itself with Bengali ethos and culture.
Urban Bhadralok and 'Jai Ma Kali'
The choice of the BJP's new state president suggests the party now wants urban votes it previously claimed not to need. Unlike Sukanta Majumdar from Balurghat in South Dinajpur and Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram in East Medinipur, Samik Bhattacharya is a resident of Salt Lake City near Kolkata. Suave, proficient in English and Hindi, and with an excellent command of Bengali, Bhattacharya prefers shirts and trousers over kurta and pajama, making him relatable to middle-class Bengalis. In 2021, the TMC dominated Greater Kolkata and did well in urban areas with over 50% vote share. With a Bengali 'bhadralok" as party boss, the BJP sought to remake its image into a Bengali party.
Over the last ten years, Lord Ram has stormed Bengal's socio-political milieu with 'Jai Shri Ram". Though Lord Ram is familiar to Bengal, he was never introduced as a political tool, depicted more like a Bengali man in granny stories. While VHP, Bajrang Dal, and BJP heavily promoted Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti, Bengal has always been about Goddess Kali and Jagannath Mahaprabhu. 'Jai Ma Kali" is not a slogan but a personal utterance. The BJP seems to have understood this. During the handover ceremony, Syama Prasad Mookerjee's photo was on one side, PM Modi's photo was on the other, and between them was a grand elevated photo of Goddess Kali. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
West Bengal's co-incharge Amit Malviya's statement that his party will 'reclaim Bengal's true identity" and allegations that 'TMC is attempting to Urdu-fy Bengal" clearly indicate that BJP is fighting not just elections but for 'the soul of Bengal".
In the days to come, we will reclaim Bengal's true identity, rooted in Maa Kali, Maa Durga, Devi Chandi, Mahaprabhu Chaitanya, and the fearless spirit of Banga Shakti.The BJP is the only pro-Bengali party born in Bengal. Others are either political imports or dynastic offshoots… pic.twitter.com/5v0kOOXqDJ
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) July 4, 2025
What's veg? 98% eat non-veg here
Lastly, there has been a shift towards non-vegetarianism in the West Bengal BJP with Samik Bhattacharya's accession. On the day Ravi Shankar Prasad officially announced him as West Bengal's next BJP president, the media crew was offered pulao and mutton curry, say sources. However, for the 5,000 BJP cadres and leaders, the menu was a simple vegetarian meal—rice, dal, and vegetables. This is significant since the TMC portrays the BJP as a 'vegetarian party" and suggests electing it would mean giving up fish, a staple in Bengali households.
This April, after a purported video of saffron-clad men forcing fish shop owners near a temple in Delhi's CR Park to shut their establishments was played out in Bengal, TMC MP Mahua Moitra shared the clip on her X handle and questioned if the BJP would dictate what to eat and where to have legal shops. BJP's Bishnupur (West Bengal) MP Saumitra Khan clarified that the three individuals threatening fish shop owners were not BJP members, but the damage was done in West Bengal.
Though the BJP in West Bengal has organised meals with chicken for a few years, Bengali mutton is considered the quintessential meat. Samik Bhattacharya's era seems to have embraced this as well.
Is it enough?
While the recent changes were overdue, earlier implementation could have given the party a chance to yield political benefits. With the assembly election results due in May 2026, there is limited time for BJP's cadres and leaders to capitalise on these changes.
Despite many leaders personally being non-vegetarian, BJP cadres and leaders shying away from publicly eating non-veg meals at large events during Samik Bhattacharya's accession reaffirms TMC's narrative that the saffron party will stop Bengalis from eating fish if it comes to power. In Tripura, Sunil Deodhar learnt Kokborok and publicly ate fish to resonate with the state's population, leading to the BJP's sweep five years later.
A senior BJP leader like Malviya discussing Anushilan Samiti implies the party will campaign on Bengal and Bengali Pride using icons like Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Satish Chandra Basu, Bipin Chandra Pal, and Rabindranath Tagore, whose sense of nationalism aligns with BJP's and may help it establish a Bengali identity.
But will the voters of West Bengal be convinced? We will have to wait until May 2026.
About the Author
Anindya Banerjee
Anindya Banerjee, Associate Editor brings over fifteen years of journalistic courage to the forefront. With a keen focus on politics and policy, Anindya has garnered a wealth of experience, with deep throat in ...Read More
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