Last Updated:
Posters in Hindi, English, and Bengali featuring Khagen Murmu’s injured face have already been printed
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee meets BJP MP Khagen Murmu on Tuesday. (File photo/PTI)
The attack on BJP MP Khagen Murmu is likely to be projected by the party as an assault on the Adivasi community. Sources within the BJP told News18 that the party plans to use Murmu’s video message and images in every Adivasi-dominated block across Bengal as well as in other states. According to party insiders, the BJP intends to circulate these visuals nationwide to portray the Trinamool Congress (TMC) as a party that is “anti-Adivasi.”
This is expected to become a pan-India campaign against the TMC. In West Bengal, around 20 constituencies have a significant Adivasi population—mostly concentrated in north Bengal and the Jangalmahal region (western part of the state). Adivasis constitute about 5.8% of Bengal’s total population, making their votes politically crucial.
In the 2021 assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party performed strongly in these areas, while the TMC, despite its sweeping victory statewide, struggled in north Bengal and Jangalmahal. In 2024, the TMC managed some degree of recovery, securing better numbers in the panchayat elections. However, political analysts suggest that if the perception takes root among Adivasis that they are being targeted or humiliated by the TMC, it could have serious electoral consequences for the ruling party.
BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya has already posted Khagen Murmu’s blood-soaked photograph on social media site X, accusing those who often “sermonize about caste” of remaining silent when a “Tribal BJP MP is assaulted by a marauding Muslim mob in Bengal”. His post further questioned whether “Tribal lives and dignity don’t matter to Mamata Banerjee, Rahul Gandhi, and the Left ecosystem”, implying that Adivasi issues are ignored in what he termed their “politics of selective outrage”.
Posters in Hindi, English, and Bengali featuring Khagen Murmu’s injured face have already been printed. A senior BJP leader told News18, “People across India should see what is happening—the kind of atrocities being committed against ordinary Adivasis. Khagen Murmu represents that struggle. Even our opponents’ alliance partners should reflect on this.”
Kamalika Sengupta is the Editor (East) at CNN-News18 / News18.com, focusing on politics, defence, and women’s issues. She is a seasoned multimedia journalist with over 20 years of experience reporting from East…Read More
Kamalika Sengupta is the Editor (East) at CNN-News18 / News18.com, focusing on politics, defence, and women’s issues. She is a seasoned multimedia journalist with over 20 years of experience reporting from East… Read More
October 09, 2025, 05:39 IST
Read More
