The battle over the Bengali identity has hit the road months ahead of the Bengal Assembly polls.

So much so that the opposition BJP and Trinamool have started trading barbs as chief minister Mamata Banerjee stepped up with a protest rally on Wednesday after facing accusations of “defending illegal infiltrators and stealing the rights of genuine voters in Bengal.”

Soon after Sagorika Ghose took to X to flag the “shameless attack on Bangla and Bangla speakers working as migrant workers in different states” with several posts, the BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya jumped into the fray. Malviya alleged that Bengal has over 17 lakh duplicate voters, an issue the BJP has formally raised with the Election Commission of India “not once but twice”.

On X, Malviya recalled Mamata’s own words in Parliament two decades ago. “The infiltration in Bengal has become a disaster now… I have both the Bangladeshi and Indian voters list,” Malviya wrote, recalling the Bengal chief minister’s words.

Upping the ante, Malviya eventually put the Bengal elections in focus.

“Forget what the Special Intensive Revision will uncover from August 1 — it is the people of Bengal who will ultimately expose and defeat her in 2026,” he wrote.

Mamata has seemingly doubled down on the issue, framing it not merely as an administrative concern, but as a targeted campaign against Bengali-speaking citizens nationwide.

“I will speak in Bengali more and more. I dare you to send me to the detention camp,” Banerjee declared on Wednesday during a rally at Kolkata’s Dorina Crossing. “If Bengalis are sent to detention camps, the people of Bengal through their votes will send BJP to the political detention camp.”

She accused the BJP-ruled states of harassing and deporting Bengali-speaking residents and vowed to tour the entire country if her government is undermined.

“The Assam government has detained 12 lakh people for not knowing Assamese. I am warning you. Stop now or you will be in trouble,” she said.

Knock on HC door

The state government has petitioned the Calcutta High Court over what it describes as the unjust deportation of Bengalis from states such as Odisha and Maharashtra. The High Court has taken note, but refrained from issuing an order.

On Wednesday, a division bench led by Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty directed the Centre to file an affidavit detailing ongoing litigation in the Delhi High Court concerning the deportation of individuals allegedly residing illegally in Delhi. The court also verbally asked the Centre’s counsel to “ascertain” whether Bengali-speaking people were being questioned about their nationality in different states, a claim raised by the West Bengal government’s counsel.

Trinamool has amplified its position both online and offline.

Spotlight on Mamata protest

A rain-soaked protest march through central Kolkata saw Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, and other senior leaders walk from College Square to a central protest site.

“Our land will not tolerate, we will not turn into UP, Bihar. Bengal will remain Bengal. The game is on,” read a statement on TMC’s official X handle.

Sagorika Ghose’s Bangla defence

Rajya Sabha MP and deputy Trinamool leader Sagarika Ghose posted on X: “All @BJP4India governments: stop your shameless attack on Bangla and Bangla speakers working as migrant workers in different states.”

“By what right are the @BJP4India-ruled governments harassing Bangla-speaking migrant workers and putting them in detention centres? 1.5 crore non-Bengali migrant workers.. Hindi or Gujarati speakers working in Bengal are treated with respect.”, she added.

“When speaking your mother tongue becomes a crime, our fight becomes a necessity,” she said. “We will raise our voices louder, protest harder, and fight longer until this cruelty ends. Joy Bangla!”