100 days on, Bengal BJP wrestles with the politics of absorption
West Bengal's BJP, 100 days into power, faces an internal contest over how to govern — and whether absorbing Trinamool's machinery changes the party itself.
A hundred days after the Bharatiya Janata Party ended 15 years of Trinamool Congress rule in West Bengal, the state's new dispensation is confronting a challenge from within. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari inherited a mandate built on public anger against extortion, strongmen politics, patronage, and unreliable employment — but the machinery of the old regime remains largely intact.
Trinamool offices and transport stands now fly BJP flags, and former strongmen once aligned with Trinamool legislators are seen alongside BJP leaders. The contradiction is visible: a government that promised to dismantle Mamata Banerjee's political system is consolidating power by absorbing the very networks that sustained it.
Three forces are now competing within the party. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which spent decades building the BJP's organisation in Bengal, wants ideological continuity. State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya has sought restraint, warning cadres against extortion and indiscipline. The party has expelled over 30 leaders and suspended around 250 over corruption and anti-party activity. Mr. Adhikari, whose political instincts were shaped inside the Trinamool, prioritises speed and control.
The RSS's concern is rooted in sacrifice. Its cadres built the party amid violence and isolation, and victory was meant to begin a different political culture. But the Chief Minister sees power differently — it resides not just in the Assembly but in clubs, booths, contractors, and transport networks. Bengal's history shows that while political personnel change parties, networks survive: Congress moved to the Left, the Left to Trinamool, and now sections of that ecosystem are shifting to the BJP.
Political scientist Dwaipayan Bhattacharya's concept of "party society" is central here. In Bengal, the party has historically been the principal mediator between citizens, institutions, and the state. The CM's strategy is not to destroy this system but to inherit it.
The contradiction sharpens in the BJP's handling of the Trinamool. While the party says its doors are closed, three former Trinamool Rajya Sabha members have joined and received immediate nominations. Around 20 rebel Trinamool MPs have merged with the Nationalist Citizen Party of India, which is seeking a merger with the BJP — making claims of distance difficult to sustain.
For the RSS, the harder question is whether absorbing Trinamool networks also means absorbing their habits. Grassroots workers are unsettled; BJP cadres now see former adversaries accommodated as "good Trinamool." For those who lost homes and livelihoods during Trinamool rule, rehabilitation can look like betrayal.
These 100 days are more than a report card on the government. They mark an argument over what the Bengal BJP will become. For the Sangh, victory vindicated decades of work. For the state president, it was supposed to create a disciplined alternative. For the Chief Minister, the priority is ensuring the Trinamool cannot recover. All three can coexist for now — but perhaps not forever.
The danger is that, in seeking permanence rather than mere victory, the BJP may preserve the political system that made the Trinamool powerful. Bengal has changed its government; the harder question is whether the BJP will change the system it inherited or simply become its new custodian.