Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday vowed to converse more in Bengali from now on, throwing down the gauntlet at the BJP before the Assembly polls next year.
After flagging the issue of voters with multiple identity cards in Bengal and the northern and western states, the alleged atrocities on Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states is the chief minister’s latest salvo against the main opposition party in Bengal.
“I will speak in Bengali more and more. I dare you to send me to the detention camp,” Mamata said in Bengali, addressing Trinamool supporters at Dorina Crossing in the heart of Kolkata.
“We are in power in Bengal and we will remain. In the coming days along with others we will also come to power in Delhi,” she declared. “If the Lok Sabha polls are held after the Bengal Assembly polls next year, the Opposition alliance will succeed.”
Mamata, her party’s general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee, other Trinamool leaders including state ministers marched from College Square to the principal protest site in the city in the rain-drenched afternoon.
Over the last few weeks, the Trinamool has been up in arms against the reported harassment – and even deportation – of Bengali-speaking people from BJP-ruled states such as Assam, Odisha, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.
Mamata said her party’s Krishnagar MP, Mahua Moitra, had rushed to Chhattisgarh on hearing about the detention of Bengali-speaking people in that state. At the Jai Hind colony in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj, four Trinamool MPs had sat on a dharna to protest against the disruption of water and power supply to the colony residents, most of them from north Bengal’s Cooch Behar.
“The people of Bengal have elected me to serve them. Let me work here. If you create disturbance here, I will tour the entire country. You won’t be able to stop me. I will see how many detention camps you can lodge me in. Even there I will speak in Bengali. If Bengalis are sent to detention camps, the people of Bengal through their votes will send BJP to the political detention camp,” the chief minister said.
The state government has already moved Calcutta High Court against the deportation of Bengalis from states like Odisha and Maharashtra. The court on Wednesday questioned the timing of the deportation drive.
The chief minister warned the BJP not to play with fire.
“The Assam government has detained 12 lakh people for not knowing Assamese. I am warning you. We don’t attack or twist words like you. We don’t speak the language that you speak. I will be clear about one thing. Stop now or you will be in trouble. If Bengalis are attacked in any states, we will go there,” she said.
The chief minister asked Bengali workers who have moved to other states to return to their homes.
“If I have one roti I will give half to you,” she said. “Don’t live there with disrespect. We have everything here. Don’t trust the BJP. They are dangerous. We have a list of about 1,000 people who have been arrested and jailed. We have also have information on how many people have been sent to Bangladesh.”
The Trinamool social media also took up the offensive against the BJP.
“Here’s our massage to BJP and Narendra Modi: our land will not tolerate, we will not turn into UP, Bihar. Bengal will remain Bengal. The game is on,” the party wrote on its X handle. “The massive crowd at today’s protest rally, led by Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, sends a clear warning that when Bengal is under attack by those opposed to Bengali, our voice will roar louder than ever.”
The Trinamool Congress had led the 2024 Lok Sabha campaign against targeting the BJP government at the Centre for not releasing funds under central government schemes to the state.
The 2026 Assembly polls will not be any different, as is indicated by Mamata’s speeches and Trinamool’s actions. On Monday, when Mamata takes to the dais to address party supporters to commemorate the July 21 martyrs, she will set the stage for the party’s campaign to the Assembly polls.
She has already outlined the contours of that campaign.