A linguistic lockdown grips Kolkata Municipal Corporation as TMC unleashes a WhatsApp whip mandating Bengali-only speeches from its councillors throughout the budget session. Issued Monday, it’s a clarion call amid brewing cultural storms.
Backdropped by outcries over Bengali workers’ plight in BJP-led states, the move supercharges TMC’s dissent and courts linguistic loyalty ahead of electoral battles. Chief whip Bappaditya Dasgupta beseeched party faithful to wield Bengali in the ‘battle for our people’s survival.”
“All budget session interventions must be in Bengali,” he insisted, rallying against existential threats to Bengali ethos.
Non-Bengali native speakers among TMC ranks—many Hindi or Urdu fluent—face the heat, having leaned on those languages or English routinely. The whip enforces a monolingual pivot.
Budget talks, slated for prime focus in coming days, see BJP unrelenting on graft accusations. TMC parries with identity politics, hoisting Bengali culture as its bulwark.
Dasgupta painted a dire picture: “Bengali traditions under siege countrywide. Scholars persecuted; in BJP domains, mere utterance invites abuse. This sacred language scripted Tagore’s national song and Bankim’s Vande Mataram.”
Proclaiming Bengali the ‘language of resistance’ amid oppression, he referenced the mayor’s precedent: “Her budget address last Friday rang purely in Bangla. My appeal ensures councillors toe the line.”
Strategic and symbolic, this edict could unify TMC’s voice while exposing fault lines. In the high-stakes budget arena, language becomes leverage, promising a session rich in rhetoric, rivalry, and regional resolve.