KOLKATA: In a telling shift in political messaging, the BJP on Friday wrapped its familiar Hindutva plank in the language of Bengali pride, culture and heritage, seeking to blunt the TMC's long-running charge that the saffron party is "anti-Bengali" and culturally alien to the state.
From promising a 'Vande Mataram Museum' and a Shaktipeeth circuit to invoking Rabindranath Tagore, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Rajbongshi icon Thakur Panchanan Barma, the BJP's manifesto attempted a careful balancing act - retaining its core ideological appeal while appropriating the cultural grammar that has shaped Bengal's politics since 2021.
The document, unveiled by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, marked perhaps the clearest acknowledgement yet by the BJP that in Bengal, electoral success cannot come through Hindutva alone.
For a party that has traditionally foregrounded issues such as infiltration, religious polarisation and nationalism, the manifesto's repeated emphasis on "Bangla's glory", "Bengal's civilisation" and "Bengali Hindu cultural identity" signalled a strategic course correction.
"To promote Bengal's culture, we will build a Vande Mataram Museum. Through this museum, Bengal's culture, already admired across the world, will gain fresh recognition and revival," Shah said while unveiling the manifesto.
The BJP also promised a law to ensure "freedom of religious faith and worship", saying every individual would have the right to freely practise religion without restrictions.
The manifesto promised to develop a Chaitanya Mahaprabhu spiritual circuit, create Tagore-inspired cultural centres, establish a modern theatre institute and raise the annual grant for theatre groups to Rs 1 lakh.
It pledged to strengthen the legacy of Rabindranath Tagore through scholarships for young artists, cultural institutions in his name and initiatives to preserve and propagate his work nationally and globally.
The party also sought to tap into regional aspirations, promising to bring Kurmali and Rajbongshi languages under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and honour regional icons such as Thakur Panchanan Barma.
Under a proposed "One District One Product" initiative, the BJP promised to promote district-specific cultural and economic identities -- Murshidabad silk, Nadia taant (handloom), Uttar Dinajpur's shola craft and other local products -- on national and global platforms.
It also promised to showcase Bengal's folk traditions internationally and transform Gangasagar Mela, Mahesher Rath Yatra, Baruni Mela and Bandna festival into international spiritual and cultural events in collaboration with the Centre, while pursuing UNESCO intangible cultural heritage status for them.
The manifesto further proposed a Shaktipeeth circuit linking major centres of worship across Bengal, blending pilgrimage politics with the larger project of cultural assertion.
Rejecting "rumours" by TMC, Shah asserted that a BJP government would not interfere with Bengal's food culture, including consumption of fish, a regular Bengali diet.
The political subtext of these promises was difficult to miss.
Ever since the BJP's dramatic rise in Bengal in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, when it won 18 of the state's 42 seats with around 41 per cent vote share, the TMC has sought to counter the saffron party not merely politically but culturally.
In the 2021 assembly polls, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee successfully recast the contest as one between Bengalis and "outsiders".
Her slogan "Bangla Nijer Meyekei Chai" and the broader campaign projecting the BJP as a party of Hindi-speaking outsiders helped the TMC consolidate Bengali sub-nationalism and turn the election into an emotional contest over identity.
The result was decisive. The TMC swept the 2021 elections with 213 seats in the 294-member assembly, while the BJP, despite its aggressive campaign and central leadership's repeated visits, remained stuck at 77.
Since then, the BJP has struggled to shake off the "anti-Bengali" label that the TMC has relentlessly attached to it.
The manifesto appears to be an attempt to correct that. By embracing Tagore, Bengali folk traditions, district-specific crafts and local linguistic aspirations, the BJP is seeking to recast itself not as an external force seeking to reshape Bengal, but as a party rooted in Bengal's own cultural and civilisational traditions.
The effort reflects a larger ideological shift within the BJP's Bengal unit -- from presenting Hindutva in a pan-Indian, homogenised form to articulating what party leaders increasingly describe as a specifically "Bengali Hindu cultural" identity.
That identity seeks to combine religious symbolism with the Bengali language, literature and cultural pride. Thus, alongside cries of "Jai Shri Ram", BJP platforms in Bengal increasingly invoke "Jai Ma Kali", "Jai Ma Durga" and Tagore.
Shah linked the BJP's vision to the period between Poila Baisakh (Bengali New Year's day) on April 15 and Tagore's birth anniversary on May 9, five days after poll results are announced, projecting it as the beginning of a wider effort to restore Bengal's "lost glory".
Political observers say the BJP has realised that to challenge the TMC effectively in Bengal, it must fight not only on the terrain of religion and governance but also on the far more emotionally resonant terrain of culture and identity.
Polling for the 294-member West Bengal Assembly will be held in two phases on April 23 and April 29.
