That Mamata Banerjee referred to the alleged harassment of Bengalis in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party during her speech at the Martyrs’ Day rally, which is organised by the Trinamool Congress each year, should not come as a surprise. This is because the theme of nativism is going to dominate the TMC’s political narrative as it prepares to return to power for a fourth term. That regionalism would be banked upon as political arsenal by a regional party like the TMC is only to be expected. Apart from serving as a tool to connect with the electorate, this kind of cultural and linguistic exceptionalism has served Ms Banerjee well in her bid to project the BJP — the TMC’s principal rival in the state — as a force that is alien to the Bengali ethos. Till now, the state BJP, known for committing endless bloopers on, say, Bengali icons as well as for being helmed by leaders from North India, has not been able to counter the TMC’s charge effectively. But its new state president is trying to address this gap. Little wonder then that Samik Bhattacharya has been at pains to point out the BJP’s Bengali roots by resurrecting the legacies of sons of soil such as Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Debaprasad Ghosh and Haripada Bharati. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi set aside Rama and began his speech by invoking the goddesses, Durga and Kali, during his recent visit to Bengal. Such are the compulsions and the ironies of electoral politics.

Pandering to Bengali exceptionalism is now most certainly a political strategy that is being competed upon by the TMC and the BJP. It has, as election results have shown in the past, delivered electoral dividends. But there is a questionable ethical component in this modus operandi that must not go unnoticed. The invocation of regional exceptionalism — all parties are complicit in this — is based on the principle of exclusion. Its intent may be to generate a sense of regional pride and superiority but what it does instead — surreptitiously — is stoke a sense of anxiety and besiegement. Bengal, with its peculiar history of brilliance and productivity but also turmoil, partitions, and steep economic decline after Independence, is particularly vulnerable to this political machination. Its response to the ploy thus remains enthusiastic.