Religious events shape political climate as Bengal moves toward 2026 elections

Kolkata: Bengal’s political battleground is rapidly turning communal in tone as multiple religious events, counter-events and symbolic constructions dominate the run-up to the 2026 Assembly polls.

From Gita recitation gatherings organised by the BJP to the laying of the foundation stone for a replica of the Babri Masjid by a suspended Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA, and from large-scale Quran-path plans to state-backed temple projects, Bengal is witnessing a widening temple- mosque confrontation.

The latest escalation came from the Sanatan Sanskriti Sansad’s Gita-path ceremony, where BJP leaders issued open calls for Hindu unity. Union MoS for Education and Bengal BJP leader Sukanta Majumdar told the crowd that “Hindus are being cornered” in Bengal and argued that the state itself was created during Partition to protect Hindu identity. BJP leaders insisted that the programme had no political intent, but the messaging was unmistakably electoral, according to legal commentators.

The Trinamool Congress hit back swiftly. Spokesperson Debangsu Bhattacharya accused the BJP of giving religious prominence to individuals “accused of rape,” saying: “Hindu faith is not so weak that people will bow before someone merely because he wears saffron.” He alleged the BJP had “damaged the true dignity of Hinduism”.

On the other side of the communal spectrum, suspended TMC MLA Humayun Kabir announced a massive Quran recitation event involving one lakh Hafiz, saying: “They can recite the Gita; I respect that. I too will organise Quran-path on a larger scale.” He recently laid the foundation stone for a Babri Masjid in Murshidabad.

In Murshidabad, BJP leader Sakharov Sarkar performed ‘Shila Pratishtha’ (foundation stone) for a replica of the Ayodhya Ram Lala temple, billed to include a school and hospital—widely seen as a counter to Kabir’s mosque initiative.

Amid these flashpoints, the TMC’s own religious infrastructure push has drawn scrutiny. This year, the state government inaugurated a massive Jagannath Temple complex in Digha, and recently Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced “Durga Angan”, a state-funded Durga temple and cultural complex in New Town. While the government frames these as cultural and tourism initiatives, the Opposition says they have intensified competitive communal politics.

Former state Congress president and ex-Berhampore MP, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, directly blamed the TMC-led state government for opening the doors for such communal politics in Bengal, and now, others are walking through them. The Left echoed similar concerns, claiming both the BJP and TMC are feeding polarisation for electoral gain.

As temple and mosque foundations rise across districts and political parties mobilise through religious gatherings, Bengal enters the 2026 election cycle more polarised—with faith, identity and symbolic assertion threatening to overshadow governance and development in the months ahead, opined legal experts.