4 min readKolkataMar 19, 2025 02:47 PM IST
First published on: Mar 19, 2025 at 02:47 PM IST
A year ahead of assembly elections in West Bengal, a poster war has erupted between the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the state’s Principal Opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
It started when posters that went up in some parts of South Bengal Monday said: ‘Hindu Hindu bhai bhai, 2026 e BJP ke chai (All Hindus are brothers, we want the BJP in power in 2026)’. The poster prompted the TMC — which saw the banner as part of a BJP campaign — to counter with its own: while one said ‘Hindu jodi bhai bhai, gas e kyano chhar nai’ (If Hindus are brothers, why do people have no relief in gas prices?), another said ‘Hindu Hindu Bhai Bhai, Kintu Bangali Purno Mantri Nai’ (the Hindus could be brothers, yet there’s no cabinet minister from Bengal’).
On its part, Debangshu Bhattacharya, the head of TMC’s IT cell, said: “BJP is basically saying Hindu Hindu, Bhai Bhai but their prime minister, Narendra Modi, calls (scam-accused businessman) Mehul Choksi bhai. It was our campaign to expose the hypocrisy of the BJP leadership, which talks about Hindutva but renders lakhs of Hindus stateless in the name of the NRC (National Register of Citizens). Bengal knows how to choose between the Hinduism of Swami Vivekananda and that of PM Modi”.
Meanwhile, BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya denied that the party had anything to do with the poster.
“Some people spontaneously acted and made posters. It was not any political campaign,” he said. However, at the same time, he also accused the TMC of “dividing the people of Bengal”.
“The TMC first tries to project itself as Hindu sympathisers and then bows before fundamentalist forces at Furfura Sharif,” he said, referring to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s visit to Furfura Sharif — a Muslim religious pilgrimage in Hooghly district – Monday. A day later, the chief minister also participated in an Iftar gathering.
When the BJP described these as attempts to consolidate minority votes, Banerjee hit back, saying they were questioning her “true intentions”.
The development comes at a time when religion appears to have taken centre-stage ahead of the assembly polls, with each party accusing the other of creating “religious divide”.
On March 10, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari – the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly – claimed that Saraswati Puja was being “obstructed” in the state and sought an adjournment motion to discuss the issue, even leading the BJP walkout when Speaker Biman Banerjee refuse to allow it.
During the same Budget session, Adhikari, who was among the four BJP MLAs suspended from the House, accused the TMC government of being “anti-Hindu” and “appeasing” Muslims. The following day, the TMC introduced a privilege motion against Adhikari.
Speaking during the session, the chief minister also took on the BJP over the January 29 stampede in the Maha Kumbh, where at least 30 people were declared dead. Calling it ‘Mrityu Kumbh’ – or the Kumbh of death – she accused the BJP of underreporting deaths.
“I respect Maha Kumbh, but what they have turned it into is sad. They are saying 30 people died, but thousands of bodies have been swept away … They have hidden hundreds of bodies to bring down the toll,” she said. The comments sparked protests from the BJP, with Adhikari leading a party delegation to meet Governor C V Ananda Bose over it.
A day later, Adhikari sparked another row by saying that Muslim MLAs would be “kicked out of the assembly” once the BJP came to power. The TMC condemned the remarks, accusing the principal Opposition of “undermining democratic values” and calling on the BJP MLA to apologise.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (File Image) 
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