In quiet shift, Bengal BJP press room drops leaders' images to project party over personalities

Kolkata: In a quiet yet telling departure from tradition, the BJP has dropped photographs of senior party leaders, including the state president, from the backdrop of the press conference room in its West Bengal headquarters, a move seemingly aimed at underscoring the primacy of the party over individual icons.

The change, which came into view during one of state BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya's first press briefings, has so far been confined to the press corner of the party's Muralidhar Sen Lane office.

Instead of the usual flex banners featuring prominent leaders, the state president, or ideologues such as Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the new backdrop now carries only the saffron colour, rows of lotus symbols, and the inscription 'Bharatiya Janata Party' in both Bengali and English.

Explaining the rationale behind the change, Bhattacharya said, "The leader or the state president is not bigger than the party, and the party is not bigger than the nation. The backdrop reflects that philosophy." Though yet to be implemented across other BJP platforms or offices, the change in the press room aesthetic has already drawn political attention.

The ruling Trinamool Congress accused the BJP of mimicking its long-practised minimalist style.

At Trinamool Bhavan, off the EM Bypass in Kolkata, the press conference room's backdrop features only the party's twin-flower (jora phool) symbol, without any image of party supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Several TMC leaders believe the BJP's new visual tone mirrors their own.

Taking a sharp dig, TMC spokesperson Arup Chakraborty said, "A failed student always tries to copy the topper. But toppers top exams because they study throughout the year. Even if a failed student copies, he fails again. He can never be the topper." Interestingly, the stripped-down backdrop concept isn't new to West Bengal's political landscape.

Both the CPI(M) and the Congress have, for years, avoided using leaders' images in their press room displays.

At the CPI(M)'s Alimuddin Street headquarters, backdrops only feature the hammer-and-sickle-and-star emblem or the election symbols of Left Front allies.

"No CPM office has ever used leaders' photos in a press backdrop. Right-wing parties believe in personality cults. That's why their leaders' faces are plastered everywhere. There is no difference between the two flowers (TMC and BJP)," CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty alleged.

The Congress, too, follows a similar visual discipline.

At Bidhan Bhavan, its Kolkata headquarters, the press backdrop displays rows of the party's hand symbol along with the words 'Indian National Congress' in three languages.

"Even the updated version we made in 2015 doesn't feature any leader, just the symbol and the party name," a state Congress leader said.

While it remains unclear whether the BJP's press corner experiment will be adopted more widely, the understated backdrop is already being seen as a symbolic shift that seeks to put the spotlight on collective party identity rather than individual leadership in a state where political visuals often carry deep meaning.