BJP promotes fish in West Bengal, tries to distance from vegetarianism

The West Bengal unit of Bharatiya Janata Party is trying hard to convince the electorate in the poll bound state that it is not opposed to fish eating, distancing itself from the popular notion that the party promotes a vegetarian diet.

The BJP candidate from Bidhannagar, Sharadwat Mukherjee on Sunday (March 22, 2026) canvassed with a fish, trying to tell people that the saffron camp would never put any restrictions on non-vegetarian food if they are voted to power in West Bengal.

“Lies are being spread against us. We will eat both fish and meat. I have come out with fish today to stop this propaganda.”Mr. Mukherjee said, holding a huge Calta fish in his hand. A doctor by profession, the BJP candidate claimed that the Trinamool Congress has pushed people of West Bengal to such an economic distress that they do not have money to buy fish.

Not only Mr. Mukherjee but BJP state president Shamik Bhattacharya had said on several occasions that Bengalis cannot give up their dietary preferences and the party has no plans to promote vegetarianism. “ Swami Vivekananda has said that Mother Kali will eat mutton. All Bengalis and Biharis will eat mutton. If anyone comes to stop me, I will break it and crush it,” the State BJP president had said. He made the remarks in response to comments by Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Vijay Kumar Sinha about restricting sale of non vegetarian food.

The Trinamool Congress leadership has often warned the electorate of the state that if the BJP comes to power, it will stop eating fish and meat in Bengal. Even party leader

Chief Minister and party chairperson Mamata Banerjee has publicly said this several times. Her latest utterance was on February 21, 2026, “Bengali cannot be occupied by those who come from Delhi. They say that they will stop eating fish and meat because they do not know the culture of Bengal.” February 21 is observed as the International Mother Language Day.

Among the several challenges faced by the BJP in West Bengal, the biggest have been that the party is alien to the culture, traditions and food preferences of Bengali. Sharadwat Mukherjee and Samik Bhattacharya are trying hard to challenge the perception. BJP leaders often claim that the founder of Jana Sangha, the predecessor to the BJP was Syama Prasad Mookerjee, a dhoti- kurta clad Bengali and the Trinamool cannot paint the party as a ‘party of outsiders’.