BJP state chief vows to ‘rejuvenate Bengal’ on Swamiji’s birth anniversary
The Statesman | 13 January 2026
Union minister and West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the Trinamul Congress (TMC) government, vowing to “bring back the state’s lost fame and rejuvenate its culture” by dislodging the ruling party in the upcoming Assembly elections.
His remarks were made while paying tributes to Swami Vivekananda on his 164th birth anniversary in the city. Speaking to reporters in Kolkata after offering floral tributes at Vivekananda’s ancestral house and cultural centre, Mr Majumdar invoked the legacy of Bengal’s iconic figures to criticise the present political atmosphere in the state. “People like Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore and Raja Ram Mohan Roy once walked this land. Today, ‘file chor’ and ‘coal chor’ are roaming freely. This shows how much the atmosphere has deteriorated,” he said.
The minister asserted that it was time to reclaim Bengal’s cultural and intellectual heritage. “We have to make this land the land of Vivekananda once again. Bengal must be rejuvenated culturally and morally,” he said, adding that the removal of the TMC government was essential to achieve that goal. Referring to the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda as an “auspicious day”, Mr Majumdar urged people to take a pledge to remove those allegedly associated with corruption. “We should take an oath today to free Bengal from people linked to scams. Only then can we once again make Bengal the heart of a cultural and educational revolution,” he said.
His comments came against the backdrop of recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids at the Kolkata office of political consultancy firm I-PAC in connection with an alleged coal pilferage and money laundering case.
The controversy intensified after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the site during the raid, an act that the BJP has repeatedly questioned. Mr Majumdar alleged that the Chief Minister’s presence at the scene raised serious doubts and demanded answers from her. The day also saw senior BJP leaders joining in the political offensive. Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, paid tributes to Swami Vivekananda and called upon the youth to “come forward to save Bengal and strengthen India”.