The violence against Hindus in Bangladesh has provided a fillip to West Bengal BJP’s membership drive, as the party struggles to meet its ambitious one crore target, while campaiging against the atrocities on minorities across the border to consolidate Hindu support in the state.

Attacks on the minority community on the other side of the border has provided the party with a rallying point, as it seeks to counter challenges posed by organisational gaps, internal discord, and the ruling Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) political dominance.

Both TMC and BJP are leveraging the Bangladesh issue to shape the political narrative ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.

“The Bangladesh turmoil, where Hindu minorities have been at the receiving end, has accelerated the membership drive, as people see the BJP as the only party capable of ensuring stability and are afraid of similar events under TMC’s rule, which is known for its minority appeasement,” state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar told PTI.

Top BJP leaders have launched an aggressive campaign across West Bengal for the last one month, focusing on the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh. They have accused the TMC of providing shelter to jihadists and fundamentalists as part of its vote-bank politics.

“West Bengal’s future is at stake under TMC rule. If we allow the TMC to continue its appeasement politics, we are inviting the same crisis we see unfolding in Bangladesh. The BJP is the only party capable of providing true security for our people,” Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari had said at rallies.

A senior BJP leader, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, "The fiery speeches, focusing on the protection of Bengal's cultural identity and Hindu community, are aimed at energising party workers and gaining momentum for the membership drive. They yielded positive results, as youngsters are taking up membership in huge numbers, especially in bordering districts." The BJP has been charging the TMC with overlooking the suffering of persecuted Hindus across the border.

“The attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh directly affect Bengal. The Hindus in Bengal know that as long as BJP is here, they are safe as, left to the TMC, they would meet the same fate like Bangladesh," BJP MP and general secretary Jyotirmay Singh Mahato said.

The BJP has linked the crisis to its push for the CAA, which promises citizenship to persecuted minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had set a one-crore membership target during his visit to Kolkata on October 27, intending to galvanise the BJP’s organisational base in Bengal. However, the party is still far from the target, with around 35 lakh members enrolled in the last week of December, days before the drive’s deadline was extended to first week of January 2025.

BJP sources indicate that half of these are renewals, reflecting challenges in attracting new members.

Majumdar acknowledged the shortfall but stressed that the membership figures were an improvement from 2019 when the party enrolled 13-15 lakh members.

“There have been organisational gaps, but the TMC’s terror politics has also deterred people from joining. We are hopeful of crossing the halfway mark. The one-crore membership target was set so that we can do much better than the last time, which we have done,” Majumdar said.

Senior leader Dilip Ghosh attributed the party’s membership shortfall to weak organisational infrastructure.

"Our workers are committed, but without a robust structure to support them, it’s challenging to reach the people effectively," said the BJP ex-state president during whose tenure the party registered its best-ever performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the 2021 assembly polls.

The membership drive’s poor performance has sparked dissatisfaction within the BJP’s central leadership.

National General Secretary Sunil Bansal, in charge of Bengal, Odisha and Telangana, reportedly expressed frustration in recent meetings, highlighting underperformance in key districts like Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum, North and South 24 Parganas, Jhargram, Purba and Paschim Mednipur.

To address the shortfall, the BJP revised its target for booth presidents, but the adjustment has yielded limited success. Only a few organisational districts—Nadia North, Nadia South, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, North Dinajpur, and South Dinajpur—have performed well.

“The TMC has created an atmosphere of fear where those willing to back BJP are threatened with violence, social ostracism, and even loss of livelihood. Despite these tactics, the BJP remains determined to strengthen its base and fight for the people of Bengal,” BJP state general secretary Agnimitra Paul said.

Senior TMC leader Kunal Ghosh dismissed the allegations saying, “The people of Bengal have no faith in the BJP. The BJP’s failure to meet its membership target is due to its declining appeal. People are distancing themselves from a party as their policies are anti-Bengal.” Political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty said, “The Bangladesh issue will indeed help the BJP to consolidate its Hindu support base. But it needs to fix its organizational gaps ahead of the next year’s assembly polls." Since the BJP's defeat in the 2021 assembly polls, the Bengal BJP has struggled with internal discord, organizational shortcomings, leading to defections of several MLAs and two MPs to the TMC, with only MP Arjun Singh returning to the BJP.

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