The cessation of repertory grants for at least 20 theatre groups in Bengal by the Union ministry of information and culture has put the state BJP unit under pressure.

The state unit of the party, in a damage control mode, has pressed the state's chief spokesperson, Samik Bhattacharya, who has already interacted with various theatre groups, that have been denied repertory grants.

“We have no connection with this central government decision and it has occurred without anyone's knowledge. We will be trying from our end so that this problem can be amicably settled,” a senior leader of the state unit said.

Bhattacharya, who is going to Delhi on Sunday night, said: “I have personally interacted with most of the groups and have assured them that I shall do my best that the grants are not withdrawn.” “I have been a spectator for the last 40 years and I know the importance of this grant. I have a question in this regard on August 8 and I shall try to convince the ministry.”

The controversy erupted in the city’s theatre circle after a government circular on August 2 revealed that several well-known groups across the country were denied the Guru-Shishya Parampara (repertory grant). These 30 groups include top performers such as Debesh Chattopadhyay’s Laketown Sreebhumi Sansriti, Ashish Chattopadhyay’s Gobardanga Shilpayan, Shyamal Chakraborty’s Rangaloke, Prakash Bhattacharya’s Nandipat, Meghnad Bhattacharya’s Sayak, and Abhi Chakraborty’s Ashokenagar Nattyamukh.

According to the circular, their funds were stopped for several reasons ranging from the ages of shishyas and gurus to groups being “well-funded” and “presentation not satisfactory.” Some groups were also denied their grants because they got the assistance of the corporate houses.

“Government should have a proper policy but here we find there is no policy. Government cannot adopt a pick and choose policy to give grants. I personally believe that this is political vendetta. The groups that were speaking against the BJP government have been denied their grant. We will see for a couple of months and then we will move the court,” former Trinamool Congress MP and theatre personality Arpita Ghosh said.

Interestingly, some Padma or Sangeet Natak Akademi awardees from Bengal have had their proposals renewed, including Rudraprasad Sengupta’s Nandikar, Jogesh Dutta’s Padaboli, Sudip Gupta’s Dolls Theatre, Bibhas Chakraborty's Anya Theatre, Manoj Mitra’s Sundaram, and Debasish Majumder’s Sudrak.

Sengupta said: “I don’t know the whole thing and so I should not make any comment. I don’t know why one group gets a grant and why one is denied. The Centre might have a mechanism and they follow that. I believe that we should sit together and try to find a solution to it.”