AAs West Bengal gears up for the 2026 assembly elections, the ruling Trinamool Congress has launched an emotionally charged campaign focused on identity politics. At the heart of this campaign lies a powerful narrative: protecting Bengali linguistic and cultural pride amid allegations the party is a concerted effort to harass, criminalize and deport Bengali-speaking migrant workers from BJP-ruled states. TMC leaders claim that these incidents are part of a broader effort to delegitimize Bengali identity across India. The effort is also linked to the BJP’s efforts to shed a past filled with contradictory overtones that bordered on protest, on Bengalism – with a distinctly North Indian accent. The latest reactionary gesture came with the nomination of Samik Bhattacharya as state BJP chief. Despite the colorful output of the Sangh, his relatively calm personality matches better with the old Bhadralok prototype. His coronation ceremony was also saturated with Bengali religious iconography, especially the iconography of the goddess Kali.