Mamata leads protest march in Kolkata, warns BJP of ‘dire political backlash’ if it doesn’t stop 'harassing' Bengali-speaking people

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lashed out at the BJP-led Centre on Wednesday (July 16, 2025) for what, she called, its policy of harassing and mistreating Bengali-speaking people across the country and warned the saffron party of dire political consequences if it did not put an immediate stop to such actions.

Ms. Banerjee also alleged that the ruling dispensation at the Centre was “influencing the Election Commission of India” to achieve its political ambitions across states.

She was speaking at a public meeting after holding a protest march in rain-drenched Kolkata against the alleged torture of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled States.

“I will challenge the central government notices which were surreptitiously sent to BJP-ruled states to harass Bengali-speaking people and detain them at the slightest suspicion,” the Trinamool Congress supremo alleged at the rally, which terminated at the Dorina Crossing in central Kolkata.

“I am ashamed and disheartened at the Centre and the BJP's attitude towards Bengalis,” Ms. Banerjee claimed.

Expressing her resolve to fight the BJP “inch by inch” if it tried to "persecute" Bengali-speaking people, she said that the saffron camp should remain prepared for a fresh round of ‘Khela Hobey’ (the game-is-on slogan coined ahead of the 2021 state polls) during the Assembly elections in 2026.

“I have decided to speak more in Bangla from now on, hold me in detention camps if you can,” she said while attacking the BJP.

March held ahead of PM Modi’s visit

Senior leaders of the party, including TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, joined Banerjee as she led thousands of people in the march, which began from College Square in central Kolkata around 1.45 pm.

The march will terminate at Dorina Crossing in Dharmatala.

The nearly 3-km route was wrapped in security, with nearly 1,500 police personnel guarding the barricaded pavements and adjacent buildings.

Vehicular traffic was diverted along multiple arterial roads in the central parts of the city because of the programme.

Similar demonstrations have also been organised by the TMC in the district headquarter towns across the State.

The protests are being held a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to the State.

Asserting that there are nearly 22 lakh migrant workers from Bengal working in other parts of the country, who have valid identity documents like Aadhar, EPIC and PAN cards, Banerjee said she would not tolerate any disrespect meted out to them on flimsy grounds.

“What right does the BJP have in harassing Bengalis like this, even arresting them and forcefully pushing them back to Bangladesh? Is West Bengal not part of India?” she asked.

Stating that "extreme situations call for extreme counter measures", Banerjee said, "I will say this in the simplest of words. We will not fight you physically. But if the BJP doesn’t put an end to its persecution policies immediately, then the Trinamool Congress knows how to make them stop."