West Bengal Meeting elections 2026 | It is raining identification politics

As West Bengal gears up for the 2026 meeting election, the ruling Trinamool Congress has plunged headlong into an emotionally charged marketing campaign centred on identification politics. On the coronary heart of this marketing campaign lies a strong narrative: the defence of Bengali linguistic and cultural delight amid what the social gathering alleges is an organised effort to harass, criminalise and deport Bengali-speaking migrant staff from BJP-ruled states. The incidents, TMC leaders declare, are a part of a wider try to delegitimise Bengali identification throughout India. This endeavour can be tied to the BJP’s efforts to shed a previous crammed with conflicting indicators, bordering on antagonistic, on Bengalihood—with a distinctively north Indian accent. The most recent reparative gesture got here with the naming of Samik Bhattacharya as state BJP chief. Whereas a dyed-in-the-wool Sangh product, his comparatively sober persona gels higher with the outdated bhadralok prototype. His coronation occasion, too, was saturated by Bengali spiritual iconography, particularly that of goddess Kali.