Poster war: TMC takes on BJP’s ‘Hindu brotherhood’ campaign ahead of next year’s election

With almost a year left until the Assembly poll in West Bengal, political temperatures in the State have started rising with a new poster war in the State. For the past few days the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership in West Bengal had put up posters in different parts of the State emphasising “Hindu brotherhood”.

The posters ‘Hindu Hindu Bhai Bhai, 2026 e BJP ke Chai’ (All Hindus are brothers, we want the BJP in power in 2026) had surfaced in Chinsurah in Hooghly and certain parts of Kolkata.

On Tuesday, the posters made by the Trinamool Congress social media and IT cell countering BJP’s posters surfaced at Shyambazar five point crossing in Kolkata. ‘Hindu Hindu Jodi Bhai Bhai, Gas-e Kyano Chhar Nai’ (If Hindus are brothers, why do people have no relief in prices of cooking gas?), the poster by the Trinamool said.

Another Trinamool poster said ‘Hindu Hindu Bhai Bhai, Kintu Bangali Purno Mantri Nai’ (Hindus could be brothers, yet there’s no Cabinet Minister from Bengal)

Reacting to the developments, Debangshu Bhattacharya, in-charge of the Trinamool Congress IT cell said, “The so-called Hindu brotherhood of the BJP comes to the fore only when there’s an election knocking at the door. At other times, the only ‘bhais’ they recognize are the likes of Mehul (Choksi) bhai,” Mr. Bhattacharya said.

These poster wars have come at a time when a war of words have erupted over Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari remarks directed at Muslim MLAs. Mr. Adhikari had said that when the BJP comes to power the Muslim MLAs will be thrown out of the State Assembly.

Mamata’s visit

On Monday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited Furfura Sharif, a prominent Muslim religious pilgrimage in Hooghly district and on Tuesday she participated at an Iftar party at Kolkata’s Park Circus area. The Opposition parties have described the Chief Minister’s presence at the Iftar gathering as an attempt to consolidate her minority votes.

The BJP leadership said that the posters by the party were spontaneous reactions to the “divisive agenda” of the ruling party. “The banners were spontaneous reactions from people who have called the Trinamool’s bluff by first trying to project itself as Hindu sympathisers and then bowing before fundamentalist forces at Furfura Sharif. They are the ones responsible for dividing the people of Bengal,” BJP spokesperson and MP Shamik Bhattacharya said.

Meanwhile, the BJP leadership has given a call for multiple rallies for Ram Navami celebrations that are scheduled in the next month. Mr. Adhikari has claimed that the number of Hindus who will participate in the rallies on Ram Navami will be double than last year. Over the past few years, Ram Navami processions in West Bengal have have triggered communal tensions in different parts of the State.