TMC Martyrs’ Day rally: Bengali Asmita, SIR resistance form Mamata’s dual poll pitch

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday blended the dual narratives of ‘Bengali asmita’ against the BJP’s “linguistic terror” on migrant Bengalis, vis-a-vis the fight over voter list to confront a “conspiracy hatched between the BJP and the Election Commission” as the basis of her battle cry for the 2026 state polls.

Addressing the Martyrs’ Day mega rally in the heart of Kolkata, TMC’s annual show of strength, Banerjee’s high-pitched oration remained focused, in equal parts, on vows of an unrelenting battle to defend the Bengali identity and mother tongue “till the saffron party is defeated” and the need to gear up for the 2026 polls by resisting the “silent purge” of legitimate voters by the ECI.

At a counter-rally held in the northern corners of the state, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, however, remained steadfast on having a special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls conducted in the state along the lines of Bihar for removing illegal voters from the list.

Stating that Hindus who migrated to India from Bangladesh due to religious persecution and Indian Muslims have no cause for worry, Adhikari said, "No Rohingya or Bangladeshi Muslim illegal immigrant will, however, be allowed to remain in the electoral rolls in the state.

In Kolkata, Banerjee declared, “If this linguistic profiling doesn’t stop, our resistance movement will reach New Delhi.”.

She gave a clarion call to party workers to launch a fresh agitation from July 27, styled as a second ‘Language Movement’, to resist what she called systematic attacks on Bengali identity and attempts to erase the Bengali language from the national landscape.

“If needed, there will be a second language movement against BJP’s terrorism on Bengali language... From July 27, a movement will start in Bengal in protest against the attack on Bengalis, Bengali language and ‘Bhasha santras’ (linguistic terrorism). This language movement will continue till the assembly polls,” she announced.

The first Language Movement took place in 1952 in erstwhile East Bengal (now Bangladesh), when protesters demanded that Bengali be recognised as one of the official languages of Pakistan.

Banerjee hinted that the “real battle” for 2026 would not be fought just at the ballot box but also over the voter list, alleging a “silent purge” of legitimate voters through a conspiracy between the BJP and the Election Commission.

“They can remove names from the electoral roll till the day of nomination. I am telling our organisation, don’t let a single name be struck off… We must win more seats in the 2026 assembly polls and then march to Delhi to defeat the BJP,” she said.

Echoing the chief minister, TMC’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee tore into the BJP, asserting that the 'Bangla-Birodhi' (anti-Bengal) party will be sent to detention camps after the assembly polls due next year, reciprocating the harassment which bona fide residents of Bengal are currently subjected to in BJP-ruled states.

“The BJP wants to take Bengalis to detention camps for speaking their language. I want to tell them clearly — after the 2026 elections, it is you whom we will send to the detention camps after defeating you democratically,” he claimed.

The TMC MP said that branding the BJP as ‘Bangla Birodhi’ ahead of the 2024 general elections wasn’t merely a coinage of slogan but an “exposure of the true character of the saffron camp”.

In Siliguri, while addressing a rally after leading a march to Uttarkanya, the north Bengal branch of the state secretariat, Adhikari said persecuted Hindus from Bangladesh “are refugees in the eyes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” and need not fear the SIR.

Adhikari and other leaders participated in the programme convened by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) to protest the atrocities on women in Bengal and demanded their security.

The CPI(M), meanwhile, termed TMC chief Mamata Banerjee's assertion to start another language movement a "gimmick".

Claiming that she has destroyed the Bengali language in the state, the party’s state secretary Mohammed Salim said, "A political forum is not the place to talk about a language movement. For a language to flourish, it has to be made the medium of education and work."

Central Kolkata's Esplanade area turned into the familiar scene of a sea of saffron, white, and green on Monday afternoon as lakhs of people from across the state and other parts of the country gathered for TMC's annual Martyrs’ Day rally, with chants of 'Jai Bangla' and 'TMC Zindabad' echoing through the city centre.

While some donned colourful uniforms and carried symbolic cutouts of various schemes launched by the CM, others gathered to catch a glimpse of their beloved leaders and hear them speak. Some even hoped to conduct brisk business, while others contemplated visiting the city’s tourist spots once the rally got over.

Traffic in and around Kolkata was managed well, with no major bottlenecks reported, when lakhs of people assembled in the city.

The Kolkata Police implemented a slew of traffic measures, especially in the central parts of the city, following the Calcutta High Court order to ensure undisturbed traffic movement.

"We ensured that the Calcutta High Court order was properly followed to maintain smooth traffic without any disruption due to the rally. There was not a single report of any traffic snarl from any part of the city and its surrounding areas," an officer said.