Sumitra Chatterjee, a family member of poet and ‘Vande Mataram’ composer Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, joined the BJP ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections. After joining the party, Chatterjee spoke about the employment situation in Bengal.
He was formally welcomed into the party by BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav. Chatterjee, a former Labour Department top official, has seen the state government functioning from close quarters.
The BJP is seeing this combination of administrative experience and family tradition as a major weapon in the battle against the Trinamool Congress in the state.
Targeting the current government’s ‘Employment Bank’ policy, Chatterjee alleged that after coming to power, the new system, which was created by deleting the information of lakhs of youths from the old ‘Employment Exchange’ under administrative orders, is more concerned with propaganda than employment.
Addressing the media persons, he said, “Although nearly 4 million youth have registered their names, no real solution has been found. The ‘Yuvashree’ project which has been stopped and now only a daily allowance of Rs 50 is being given in the name of ‘Yuva Sathi’ is nothing but a farce with the unemployed youth.”
Welcoming Chatterjee to the party, Union Environment and Forest Minister Bhupendra Yadav subtly invoked the memory of Bankim. He said, “Bankim Chandra’s ‘Vande Mataram’ is the backbone of nationalism and patriotism in this country. It is a matter of pride to have a member of his family in the party.”
The minister’s remarks are being seen as an effort to establish a foothold in the cultural and intellectual sphere of Bengalis and not just an attempt to gain votes.
He hoped that Bankim Chandra’s ideals will be the main resource for building a “superior Bengal” in the coming days.
In November 2025, family members of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay had joined the BJP leadership in highlighting the neglect to the house of the writer, which was taken over by the West Bengal government almost two decades ago.
Sumitra Chatterjee and Sajal Chatterjee, the fifth generation descendants of the celebrated poet and novelist, had joined state BJP president Samik Bhattacharya in raising the issue.
Sumitra Chatterjee had at that time urged the West Bengal government’s Department of Library to conduct an investigation into the “misuse of the property” taken over by the state government. Claiming that the celebration of 150 years of ‘Vande Mataram’ was not a political programme, he had said that the West Bengal government should have held a similar celebration to honour the writer.