Relocating Hindutva in Bengal’s Political Landscape

This article examines the trajectory of Hindutva politics in West Bengal through the national and state elections between 2014 and 2024, a state that has remained unusually resistant to the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) wider national dominance. Drawing on election data, survey reports and secondary sources, the study analyses how regional identity, welfare politics and organisational structures intersect with the ideological spread of Hindu nationalism. It argues for an analytical distinction between political Hindutva - embodied in the BJP's electoral project - and cultural Hindutva - propagated by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliates. While the BJP's performance has faltered in successive electoral contests, the resilience of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), anchored in populist welfare transfers and the mobilisation of Bengali cultural identity, has curbed its expansion. Yet electoral setback does not equate to the erosion of Hindutva as a socio-cultural force. The paper shows how cultural Hindutva advances through grassroots mobilisation, educational networks, religious festivals and community-oriented initiatives that expand its social base across marginalised regions. By tracing these dynamics, the article highlights West Bengal as a critical site where competing logics of political patronage, regional subnationalism and Hindu nationalism intersect. The analysis underscores that Hindutva in Bengal cannot be reduced to electoral outcomes; rather, it is a layered and evolving project whose cultural dimensions continue to expand despite political reversals. In doing so, the paper contributes to broader debates on the relationship between populism, identity politics and the endurance of ideological movements in democratic contexts.