West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday led a protest march over the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states. Thousands of people participated in the march, which began from College Square in central Kolkata and ended at the Dorina Crossing in Dharmatala.
Banking on the Bengali identity pitch ahead of the 2026 assembly elections, Mamata led the protest march in the heart of Kolkata. The Trinamool Congress supremo was joined by senior leaders of the party, including TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and several others.
The march took place against the backdrop of a series of recent incidents pertaining to the detention of 444 suspected Bangladeshi nationals in Odisha's Jharsuguda, while Mamata claimed that several of them were from Bengal.
Recent eviction drives in Delhi, and a notice served to a farmer in Cooch Behar by a foreigners' tribunal in Assam also triggered the protest march.
Security was beefed up across the nearly 3-km route as over 1,500 police personnel were deployed to maintain law and order. Vehicular traffic was diverted along multiple arterial roads in the central parts of the city because of the programme.
The protests are being held a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scheduled visit to the state.
Mamata today dared the Centre to put her in a detention camp. "I have decided that I will speak in Bengali more. Put me in a detention camp. BJP khela hobe. Just wait," she said.
"The BJP government has issued a notification saying arrest suspected Bangladeshi nationals and keep them in detention camps. This has been sent to all BJP-ruled states. We will challenge that notification. How will you send everyone who speaks Bengali to jail?" Mamata further said.
"West Bengal citizens have ID cards. They are working in other states because they have skills. They will make them work, but arrest them when they speak Bangla. Who has given you the right? Is Bengal not part of India?" she thundered.
The protests over the issues also give a glimpse of the thrust of TMC's campaign for the assembly elections, which will be due mid-next year. The party seems to be betting heavily on rekindling the emotional connection with voters through a campaign that blends identity politics with grassroots mobilisation.
