RSS running silent anti-Mamata, Hindutva-heavy ‘jagaran’ campaign in West Bengal
The Statesman | 25 February 2026
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological fountainhead of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is silently laying the ground for dislodging Mamata Banerjee from her long-held bastion of West Bengal in the upcoming state assembly elections.
The RSS, or Sangh as it is popularly known as, has launched its tried and tested campaign of ‘jagaran’ or public awareness and education in West Bengal to rally the Hindu vote bank against Chief Minister Banerjee. RSS volunteers are going door to door in small groups to educate people about the “excesses” of the Mamata Banerjee regime and the “need for Hindus to bring the BJP to power”.
According to Sangh volunteers in the know of the campaign, the primary objective of the drive is to ensure that all Hindu voters come out to vote.
The campaign is based on RSS’s reading of the ground situation in West Bengal. “There is a strong undercurrent against the Mamata Banerjee regime. Two issues have really got to the people of West Bengal: the state’s industrial and economic backwardness and the Muslim appeasement at the cost of the Hindus in the state. People are afraid of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), so they won’t respond publicly to the calls made by the BJP, but this should be a question of anxiety for Didi,” a senior BJP leader from the state told The Statesman.
Meanwhile, talking to The Statesman, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Joint General Secretary Surendra Jain observed, “There is a lot of discomfort among the people of West Bengal; a lot of resentment against Mamata Banerjee. From the tribal population of the state to the Bhadralok, people are looking for change. People have become ‘jagrit’ (aware). When jagaran happens among the commonfolk and the masses, the political masters are overthrown.”
On the question of Muslim support for the TMC, the BJP claims that Mamata Banerjee has lost the support of the community. “TMC has lost most of the Muslim support since the community has come to realise that they have been taken for a ride and only exploited for votebank politics without any real gains. The sentiment among the Muslim community on the ground is that only some power brokers from their community have been passed all the gains. The community at large has remained backward and bereft of any progress,” a West Bengal BJP leader said.
The right wing is once again eyeing the upcoming Ram Navmi celebrations as the pivot to rally the Hindu voters to the saffron fold. Ram Navmi has increasingly assumed a political tone in West Bengal with ever increasing size of processions in recent times. Even the TMC has realised the political potential of the festival and has been organising its own celebrations.