West Bengal on the Edge: Communal Violence Returns Amid Political Polarisation Ahead of 2026 Elections

For the first time in eight years, Ram Navami celebrations in West Bengal passed off peacefully, leading many to believe that the toxic Hindu-Muslim politics that had gripped the State for much of the past decade had finally lost its sting. The hope was short-lived. Within days, inexplicable and gratuitous violence broke out during protests held against the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, mainly in Murshidabad district. Three people lost their lives, underscoring the uncomfortable truth that communal tensions continue to overshadow more pressing issues in West Bengal politics.

With the 2026 State Assembly election drawing near, both the ruling Trinamool Congress and the principal opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, appear to be positioning themselves to take advantage of the prevailing communal polarisation. The situation in the State remains volatile, underscoring the need for restraint and responsibility from all major political actors.

The situation did not look this ominous even at the start of the month. Contrary to apprehensions, the Ram Navami celebration on April 6 passed off with hardly any violence, despite inflammatory remarks ahead of the festival by some BJP leaders. In many communally sensitive areas, Muslims greeted the processions with warmth, choosing engagement over confrontation. The processions themselves were relatively tepid compared to the fanfare and crowds in previous years, indicating perhaps a dwindling interest among those who have been swayed by the saffron party’s political narrative. At a time when Hindutva forces were ramping up the rhetoric by invoking attacks on Hindus in neighbouring Bangladesh, this unexpected display of communal harmony offered hope that West Bengal’s political discourse might yet take a more tempered turn.

However, these hopes were dashed by the violence directed mainly against the Hindu population in the Muslim majority district of Murshidabad during an anti-waqf law agitation, with violence rocking the place from April 11. The protests at Suti, Dhulian, Jangipur, and Samserganj assumed a communal colour, as miscreants not only attacked the police and State government offices but also targeted the Hindu residents of the area. On April 12, 74-year-old idol-maker Hargobind Das and his son Chandan were dragged out of their home in Jafrabad in Samsherganj by a violent mob and hacked to death. The same day, a youth by the name of Ijaz Ahmed was reportedly killed in police firing in Suti.

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The victims of the violence alleged that the district police were not able to provide protection. On April 12, the Calcutta High Court, hearing a petition filed by the Leader of the Opposition, the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, ordered the deployment of Central forces, who were to work in tandem with the State police to bring about normalcy in the region. Despite the presence of Central forces, the violence continued, forcing many to flee their villages and seek shelter in the neighbouring district of Malda or the adjoining State of Jharkhand.

Fault-lines exposed

The State administration and the ruling party were caught completely off-guard by the sudden outbreak of violence, during which the residences of both police personnel and elected legislators of the Trinamool were targeted. The unrest was not confined to Murshidabad; on April 14, Bhangar in South 24 Parganas erupted over the Waqf Act, and although there were no communal incidents, the police were attacked and public property was torched. These incidents gave the BJP another opportunity to highlight the violence in Bangladesh and fuel Islamophobia to further consolidate the Hindu vote share.

While both the BJP and the Trinamool have benefited electorally from the increasing polarisation in the State, the violence in Murshidabad has hit the ruling party hard. Never averse to playing the religious card in its politics, the Trinamool has always walked a thin line between what is perceived as its Muslim appeasement and its “soft Hindutva”. While it can be confident of securing the lion’s share of Muslim votes (accounting for more than 30 per cent of the population), it can ill-afford to lose its share of Hindu votes to the BJP, which now has a total vote share of over 39 per cent.

According to the veteran political analyst Biswajit Bhattacharya, the violence has allowed the Hindutva forces to now take the fight to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee “on their own terms”. “Earlier, it was Mamata who was setting the political narrative and the BJP had to counter it. The Murshidabad violence, along with what is happening in Bangladesh, has turned the tables, and she now has to counter the BJP’s Islamophobic narrative,” he said.

On April 16, while addressing a large gathering of imams and muezzins in Kolkata, Mamata called the violence a “preplanned communal riot”. Training her guns on the BJP government at the Centre, she said: “What is your plan? To get an agency [a reference to Central forces] to bring people from there [Bangladesh] and cause riots? An ANI tweet, quoting Home Ministry sources, said that Bangladesh had a hand in it. If so, then it is the Central government’s responsibility because I do not control the borders. The BSF [Border Security Force] does.” She appealed to the Muslim community to maintain peace, saying: “If you don’t maintain peace, you will be hurting yourself and helping the BJP.”

West Bengal politics was once driven by ideological clashes and development issues, but the focus has increasingly shifted to religious politics, more so since the Trinamool Congress came to power in 2011. One of the main factors behind the defeat of the CPI(M)-led Left Front government after 34 years was the shift of the Muslim votes to the Trinamool, following the Sachar Committee report (2006), which highlighted the lack of socio-economic development among Muslims in West Bengal.

Saffron surge

In the following years, Mamata spared no efforts to retain that base, even risking a growing perception of her playing appeasement politics. She even acknowledged this herself: After her party’s debacle in the 2019 Lok Sabha election in which the BJP announced itself as the main opposition in the State, she countered the allegations of appeasement by defiantly stating: “Will do it 100 times as there is no harm in taking kicks from a cow that gives you milk.”

For all its faults, one thing the CPI(M) always maintained was its equidistance from all religions. While in power, it managed to firmly keep the RSS and its affiliate organisations from taking root in the State. However, after the Left’s defeat in 2011 and its subsequent rapid decline in the State, the Sangh found the scope to increase its influence. It went on to do so at a pace its traditional opponents found difficult to match. Neither did the growth face any resistance from the Trinamool, which until 2007, was a part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

According to sources, the number of RSS shakhas, milans, and mandalis has increased from over 3,500 in 2023 to over 4,500 in 2025. But more than the increase in these camps, it is the increase in the number of RSS frontal organisations that has allowed it greater penetration in the State.

Snigdhendu Bhattacharya, the author of Mission Bengal: A Saffron Experiment, told Frontline: “After the Trinamool came to power, hard-line Hindutva organisations like the VHP [Vishva Hindu Parishad], Bajrang Dal, and Hindu Jagran Manch have been growing in stature. But alongside this, we have seen a huge growth of frontal organisations like Ekal foundation that runs the Ekal Vidyalaya, Vidya Bharati, Seva Bharati, Sahakar Bharti, Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana, Sanskar Bharati, and Vijnana Bharati. Although it is impossible to quantity the extent of growth as they keep launching new outfits under new banners, we can safely say the increase of such organisations has been manifold.”

Alongside, communal tension began to rise as the Trinamool and the BJP emerged as the two main opponents. The occasional flare-ups of the past became more frequent and more intense. In fact, today even political violence often assumes a communal colour.

“After the flare-up in Murshidabad, the situation is such that anti-government sentiment may well converge with Islamophobia,” said Snigdhendu Bhattacharya. He pointed out that over the past 10 years, Islamophobia in Bengal has been spreading through the traditional media, digital platforms such as WhatsApp and YouTube, and speeches of political leaders. “Islamophobia hit a new high with the attack of Hindus in Bangladesh,” he added.

According to the police, even during the recent flare-up in Murshidabad and Bhangar, rumours spread through social media and the WhatsApp feature caused enormous mischief. “Rumour-mongering has been the biggest enemy of peace,” said Jawed Shamim, Additional Director General of Police Law and Order.

‘Politics of appeasement’

Although the Internet was suspended in the strife-torn areas, mischief-mongers were using signals from towers in neighbouring Malda and Birbhum districts. Even State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar was caught sharing a fake post with pictures supposedly of attacks during Hindu festivals in Bengal when the pictures were, in fact, of festivals in other States, several ruled by the BJP.

With the Left and the Congress continuing to grope in the political wilderness, the current equation in Bengal makes it virtually impossible for either the BJP or the Trinamool to disengage from communal politics. In fact, it seems to serve both parties so well that each appears intent on deepening the divide for its own ends.

Influential Muslim leaders of the Trinamool, such as Minister Firhad Hakim and MLA Humayun Kabir, have been heard making communally sensitive statements. In July last year, Hakim, who is also the Mayor of Kolkata, was heard saying at a Quran competition: “Those who are not born in Islam are unfortunate. Allah will be happy if we can bring them in the fold of Islam.” In May 2024, Kabir threatened to drown BJP supporters in Murshidabad in the Hooghly river. He reminded Hindus that they were 30 per cent in Murshidabad, while Muslims were 70 per cent.

Similarly, the BJP has also used every opportunity to gain mileage from the communal tension. For instance, during the recent Ram Navami celebrations, a procession led by BJP leader Arjun Singh was seen waving Israeli flags in a clear act of provocation against Muslims.

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Even as Murshidabad burned, several BJP and Trinamool leaders, along with Islamist leaders, continued with their menacing sabre-rattling that did little to defuse the situation. While Trinamool Minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury threatened to bring Kolkata to a standstill with his supporters, the BJP’s Arjun Singh claimed he could “empty” Murshidabad in just one day by bringing in goons from Jharkhand and Bihar.

Time and again, communal issues have diverted the public’s attention from pressing matters of governance such as allegations of corruption and administrative failures. Just days before the Murshidabad flare-up, the School Service Commission recruitment scam cost over 26,000 people their jobs. Yet, their plight and protests were quickly overshadowed by the sudden spate of violence.

One disturbing takeaway from the episode was that neither the State administration nor the appeals of the Chief Minister could bring the situation under control. Said the well-known psephologist Biswanath Chakraborty: “When Mamata first started the politics of appeasement in West Bengal, she let the djinn out of the bottle; now it has become impossible for her to put it back in.”