In a clear departure from his predecessors’ pro-Hindutva stand, newly appointed West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Thursday said that his party is not against Muslims and that it envisages a West Bengal where Muharram and Durga puja ‘visarjan’ processions can be held side by side without ‘danga’ or communal riots.
In his first speech after being elected to the post, the Rajya Sabha MP also outlined the BJP’s upward trajectory in West Bengal in the past decade and hit out at the TMC government in the state for allegedly failing to give jobs to youths, and security to women.
“BJP’s fight is not against Muslims. Those who hold stones in their hands, the BJP wants to replace the stones with books. We want a Bengal where Muharram and Durga Puja visarjan (immersion) processions can go side by side without any riots taking place,” Bhattacharya said at an event where he was officially anointed the new state BJP chief. His predecessor Sukanta Majumdar and Leader of Opposition in Assembly Suvendu Adhikari were present. Former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was in charge of the election process, also attended the event held at Kolkata’s Science City.
Narrating the BJP’s growth, Bhattacharya said: “From two MLAs to now 303, people of Bengal have given us a special place. People of Bengal have understood that it is the BJP that can defeat the TMC.”
Hitting out at the TMC government, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the new state BJP chief said: “People of Bengal want their family, who are migrant labourers, to return home. Over 17,000 people have lost their jobs under this government. They are on the streets. Once the BJP comes to power, no migrant labour will have to leave the state,” he said.
Bhattacharya promised to “give justice” to people hit by the post-poll violence in 2021. “No one will be spared. They will be brought to justice even from patal lok (underworld) once the BJP comes to power in the state,” he said.
Claiming that people of Bengal want “mukti” (liberation) from the TMC government, he said, “2026 Assembly poll is not just an election, but a fight for Bengal.”
Addressing the factionalism in the state unit of his party — his main challenge before the Assembly elections next year, Bhattacharya stressed on unity, urging the old generation to trust the new and the new to remember the contributions of those who built the party.
“The old must make space for the entry of new, and the new generation must understand the struggle they endured when the BJP had no foothold in Bengal… This fight can in no way be one-sided anymore. Fight the war. The 2026 election is about TMC’s visarjan (immersion),” he said.
His predecessor and Union minister, Sukanta Majumdar, who held the post for the last four years, said: “This is a continuous relay race… Rahul Sinha, then Dilip Ghosh, then me, and now Samik Bhattacharya. I feel honoured today. Sukanta Majumdar is and will always be there with you all. With Samik Bhattacharya, we will fight this battle together.”
“We will continue to fight to uproot Mamata Banerjee’s government… Be ready to retaliate and fight back in 2026, unlike 2021 when the BJP was attacked. Don’t get hit this time,” he cautioned.
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, however, made an aggressive pitch on consolidating Hindu votes and launched a broadside against the TMC government. Thanking all previous state BJP chiefs, except his bête noire Dilip Ghosh, Adhikari said: “I am rendering both hands to strengthen the party… To form the government, we just need 4 to 5 per cent vote from now on. Develop relata ionship with voters, go door to door, meet them, and have control at the booth level. This minority appeaser, corrupt government should be uprooted. No woman is safe. Kanya bachao, Mamata Bhagao (Save girls, oust Mamata)… Hindu bachao, Mamata bhagao (Save Hindus, oust Mamata). Hindu jaago… badla amay nite hobe (wake up Hindus… we have to avenge).”
Meanwhile, Ravi Shankar Prasad praised Bhattacharya, calling him a “great communicator. “Under his leadership, the 2026 Assembly election will be fought. It might be surprising for other political parties, but the BJP is not a family party. BJP as a party is a family… We want a BJP government in Bengal so that people can live safely. Bengal has become worse under the TMC and Mamata Banerjee,” he added.
Bhattacharya, 61, has over four decades of political experience. He started his career in 1971 with the RSS in Howrah and subsequently moved to the BJP. He steadily rose through the ranks and gradually emerged as one of the party’s most popular faces in the state in the 1990s because of his strong oratory skills.
Bhattacharya also served as the general secretary of the Bengal BJP for three terms. In 2014, he won the Basirhat Dakshin Assembly bypoll and was a legislator for just over a year. Last year, he was sent to the Upper House.