Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat is set to visit Bengal on an extended tour amidst the ongoing tension over the persecution of the Hindu minorities in Bangladesh and the other issues like infiltration and arrest of militants in West Bengal.
He is scheduled to arrive in the state on 7 February and stay until 16 February. Sources said that this long tour of RSS chief in Bengal is also an agenda for keeping the 2026 Bengal Assembly poll in mind. According to sources, some top BJP leaders from the state might meet him during his visit to seek guidance from the RSS, especially since the BJP has been unable to capitalise politically on issues like the murder and rape of a R G Kar Medical College student and tortures on Hindus in Bangladesh and has fallen short of achieving its target of one crore membership in the state.
During his visit, Bhagwat is expected to hold a public meeting. A few years ago, on 23 January, he was the keynote speaker at a rally at Kolkata’s Shaheed Minar (Monument) to commemorate the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. This time, in addition to Kolkata, he will spend a few days in Burdwan. In Kolkata, he will hold organisational meetings with senior RSS officials at Keshav Bhavan, reviewing the expansion of RSS in Bengal. As the organisation celebrates its centenary year, the RSS sees this as an ideal opportunity to strengthen its foundation in the state. Plans are being laid for continuous service-oriented activities and various programmes across districts. Bhagwat is expected to visit Burdwan on 11 February and will participate in a public rally there on 17 February before leaving.
Despite setting a target of one crore members, BJP in Bengal has managed to achieve only around 50 lakh. On Friday night, the state BJP leadership claimed they were nearing 50 lakh members, but by Saturday morning, it became evident that the final count, as of the 10 January deadline, would not surpass this number. This has raised questions about why the BJP had to settle for half its target in two-and-a-half months. Some within the party claim that even the figure of 50 lakh members is inflated, and the actual number is significantly lower.
The, the state BJP leadership maintains, “Critics will say such things. We are confident of reaching 50 lakh members.” State BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya has asserted that the membership count has crossed 50 lakh and could approach 60 lakh.
Trinamul Congress has not missed the chance to mock the BJP’s membership drive. On Friday, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh remarked, “The state BJP’s membership drive is a complete failure. A few political migrants come and make big speeches, and then the party tries to recruit members through missed calls at weddings, funerals, and baby showers. Is this how a party operates? BJP is like a circus. This party is riddled with factionalism and disconnected from the people. They are the enemies of Bengal, fragmented and broken organisationally.”