India, Sept. 25 -- The BJP in West Bengal has recast its Durga Puja outreach into a cultural counter-offensive aimed at blunting the Trinamool Congress' "anti-Bengali" charge ahead of the 2026 assembly polls. The saffron camp is attempting to fuse faith with identity politics, projecting itself as a stakeholder in "Bangali asmita" (Bengali pride) while challenging Mamata Banerjee's portrayal of the party as an outsider force.

This year, the party has dispatched 107 leaders to 22 states and Union Territories under the 'Durgapuja Bangali Milan Samaroh' to connect with diaspora Bengalis. State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya is touring Gujarat, Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar is in Varanasi, and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari is in ...