West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday warned leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the state to change their conduct or face being watched, days after a row over Bihar police seeking details of the RSS and its affiliates. The Trinamool Congress chief was speaking at her party’s ‘Shahid Divas’ (Martyrs’ Day) rally at Esplanade in Kolkata.

Warning to the RSS

Banerjee said nobody in Bengal knew the BJP’s leaders, and accused them of bringing in outsiders and of misleading tribal communities, including by opening Ekal schools. She noted that the Bihar government had asked its police to monitor the RSS and said Bengal had not done so only out of political courtesy, which should not be taken for weakness. Her party, she said, had chosen change over revenge on coming to power, and would not let anyone drive a wedge between Hindus and Muslims in the state. She also accused the BJP of double standards for stopping Priyanka Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh while criticising Bengal for doing the same.

‘Cut money’ counter-attack

Turning to the “cut money” (commission) controversy that has dogged her party for weeks, Banerjee said the BJP should first return black money, and to hand over the Rs 15 lakh she said it had promised. She called BJP leaders “dacoits”, asked how they were paying for five-star offices and expensive election campaigns, and demanded they return “cut money” from the Rafale deal and from central schemes, claiming she had proof. She announced a statewide campaign against what she called the BJP’s black money on July 26 and 27.

Background

Banerjee has often accused the RSS of religious polarisation in Bengal. Before the Lok Sabha election, at a meeting in Chopra in North Dinajpur, she alleged that the Congress had a secret understanding with the BJP and that Abhijit Mukherjee, son of former president Pranab Mukherjee, was getting RSS help, as was Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, in Jangipur and Berhampur. She described the CPI(M) and the Congress as “old wine in a new bottle”.

See also: Political leaders | Election news

Originally published on 22 July 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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