Four months on, why Bengal BJP government grapples with rows, Sangh concerns

BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya has sought to distance both the party and the government from the vandalism incident outside the Kolkata newspaper office few days ago. (File) 5 min readKolkataSep 6, 2026 03:36 PM IST First published on: Sep 6, 2026 at 03:06 PM IST Barely four months into the Suvendu Adhikari-led BJP government’s tenure in West Bengal, the party and the state administration have encountered a series of controversies, facing challenges not only from the Opposition but also from within their own ranks. The latest row involved a conflict at Jadavpur University between the ABVP, the RSS‘ student wing, and the Left student bodies. In its aftermath, BJP MLA from Jadavpur Sharbari Mukherjee called for the university to be renamed after Sri Aurobindo, citing his association with the institution and his role as one of its founders.The demand came at a time when the BJP government has been seeking to project development and governance as its principal priorities, rather than symbolic changes to institutions and public spaces. Recently, some alleged BJP supporters also held a demonstration outside the office of a leading daily in Kolkata and painted a part of its white building saffron, triggering another controversy. BJP maintains distance BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya sought to distance both the party and the government from the vandalism incident outside the Kolkata newspaper office. “I am representing a specific political party. People voted for a change in Bengal. This government’s target is not to change the colour of a particular place. Some controversies have cropped up. Some people changed the colour of a newspaper office. This is not the agenda of our party or government. Our target is to ensure the development of the theatre or film industry. The government is ready to help with that,” he said. Bhattacharya subsequently made the party’s position more explicit, saying those who changed the colour were not BJP workers and that the party had no involvement in the episode. “Those who did this are not BJP workers. The BJP is not involved in this,” he said. Bhattacharya also rejected Sharbari Mukherjee’s proposal to rename JU, saying it did not reflect the BJP’s position. “This is not our party’s agenda. What the MLA said is her personal opinion,” he said. The BJP’s attempts to distance itself from these controversies have, however, come against the backdrop of concerns within the wider Sangh Parivar over the rapid expansion of the party after its victory in the 2026 Assembly elections. Sangh weekly flags concerns The RSS-linked Bengali weekly Swastika, in its latest issue, sounded a note of caution against what it described as “thugs entering the party”. The article argued that the BJP’s biggest challenge was no longer simply defeating political opponents, but meeting the expectations of voters. “The challenge is not political parties becoming powerful… There is no opposition party to fight the BJP… but the pressure is about facing the people,” the article said. It also warned that the BJP’s electoral advantage could quickly erode if voters came to see it as resembling the political culture they had rejected. Pointing out that once a political party has been rejected electorally by the people of Bengal, it has never been able to make a comeback, the article said: “The corrupt govt of 15 years (Trinamool Congress-led government) has been devastated. The Left Front and Congress have become negligible forces in (Bengal) politics.” It went on to warn: “If even 2% voters feel that the present BJP is a replica of the thugs (Trinamool Congress) who governed the state for 15 years, 90% voters will shift away from the BJP.” A senior BJP leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the party’s rapid expansion had created organisational challenges. “We came to power because people voted for us. We don’t have a proper organisation in all sectors and areas. Now many people are entering the party and they don’t know the functioning of the BJP and RSS. Some people are thinking they will do exactly what the TMC did, and a few others think they can make the leadership happy by changing colours or making statements,” the leader said. Opposition sharpens attack The Opposition, however, is not giving much weight to Bhattacharya’s attempt to distance the BJP from the vandalism incident. CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty alleged, “Some of them are BJP’s faces and some of them are masks of the BJP. There are many types of masks in the BJP. They are not taking the BJP president’s words seriously and doing what they want to.” TMC MLA Kunal Ghosh, who is associated with the party faction led by former CM Mamata Banerjee, also attacked the BJP over the controversies. “This is not a matter of any use. In the BJP, there is only renaming, changing colours, threatening with police, and switching parties,” he said.