BJP Plans Festivals Ahead of 2026 West Bengal Assembly Elections

Party sources say the initiative, part of a strategy to counter the Trinamool and its KIFF, will run from December to February.

Written by Tanusree Bose

October 16, 2025 03:38 PM IST

3 min read

Ahead of the 2026 West Bengal elections, the BJP is launching cultural festivals in Kolkata to connect with artists, youth, and intellectuals.

The outreach is part of a larger strategy led by Bhupendra Yadav and Biplab Deb to strengthen the party’s grassroots presence and counter the TMC.

With the West Bengal Assembly polls months away, the BJP has intensified its preparations, launching a series of outreach initiatives targeting different sections of society — including appeals to the state’s intellectual and cultural interests.

Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav and Tripura’s former Chief Minister and BJP MP Biplab Deb, appointed as observer and co-observer for the 2026 Assembly polls, have already held two rounds of consultations with senior state leaders to finalise the roadmap and strategies to counter the Trinamool Congress.

According to party sources, a key initiative this time will be an art festival in Kolkata — spanning December 2025 to February 2026 — to engage artists, musicians, theatre personalities, and filmmakers.

The plan includes a theatre festival in early December, a music festival in the last week of December, a painting festival in January, and a film festival from late January to February 1.

“The stress is on reaching out to all strata of society,” said a senior BJP leader. “The film festival, especially, is a good initiative not only to connect with the film fraternity but also to reach out to the youth, the elderly, and the intellectuals.”

Party leaders see the move as a counter to the state government’s Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF), which has been held annually since 1995 and opened up to the masses after 2011.

In addition to the cultural events, the BJP is planning a mega rally across the state to gauge public sentiment. “This will not only be an outreach programme but also an opportunity to understand what the people really want,” another senior leader said.

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The party has also formed a high-rise committee to connect with residents of apartment complexes and is focusing on strengthening organisational structures ahead of the new state committee’s formation.

According to sources, the leadership has cautioned against losing support from Matua, Rajbanshi, tribal, and Kurmi communities, key to the BJP’s voter base. The recent attack on BJP MP Khagen Murmu and MLA Shankar Ghosh in Nagrakata is also expected to feature in the campaign as an example of “atrocities on tribal communities” in the state.

Bhupendra Yadav, party insiders said, has instructed state leaders to avoid mistakes from 2021, referring to factionalism that hurt the BJP’s prospects in the last Assembly elections. “This time, the party does not want history to be repeated, but history to be made by ousting TMC,” said a senior leader.

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