Will compel BJP to chant our ‘Jai Bangla’ slogan after 2026 Assembly polls: Abhishek Banerjee

Kolkata:  The BJP will be compelled to chant the “Jai Bangla” slogan after the West Bengal Assembly election scheduled next year, Trinamool Congress’ general secretary and the party’s Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee said on Monday.

“Already, the BJP has started realising the importance of admiring the Bengali culture. So they have started chanting ‘Jai Ma Durga’ and ‘Jai Ma Kali’. Take my word, we will make them chant our slogan of ‘Jai Bangla’ after the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. They will lose whatever little presence they have in the West Bengal Assembly next year,” Abhishek Banerjee said, while addressing Trinamool Congress’ annual Martyrs’ Day rally in central Kolkata.

However, there are controversies over whether the slogan of “Jai Bangla” was an original coinage of the Trinamool Congress.

Critics claim that this particular slogan had been traditionally chanted by the leaders and supporters of Bangladesh’s former ruling party, Awami League, since the slogan was first chanted by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the architect behind the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent nation after erstwhile East Pakistan was liberated from Pakistan.

Speaking at the rally, Abhishek Banerjee said that the BJP is attempting nationwide to send Bengali-speaking people to detention camps. “They want to send the entire population of West Bengal to detention camps. But after the 2026 Assembly elections, the people of West Bengal will send the BJP to those detention camps,” he said.

According to him, two “E” are the tools of the BJP and the Union Government. “One ‘E’ is the Enforcement Directorate (ED), through which they are harassing the opposition party leaders. The second ‘E’ is the Election Commission of India (ECI), through which they are trying to manipulate voters’ lists in different states. But we are not scared. I am also asking the people of West Bengal not to be scared,” the Trinamool Congress general secretary said.

He concluded his speech by saying that after the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, Trinamool Congress’ next target would be to oust the BJP from New Delhi in the next Lok Sabha elections.

“Raise the slogan of ‘Jai Bangla’ in such a manner that its impact shakes New Delhi,” he said.

–IANS