“Law is equal for everyone,” Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said strongly and warned that no religious road blockade will be allowed for namaz, prayers or public worship that disrupts traffic and public convenience. In his new BJP-led government, he has instructed police and local authorities to ensure that loudspeakers do not create noise pollution outside religious places and congregations do not overflow onto public roads on normal days, except for special occasions with prior permission.
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The rationale for this decision
Mamata Banerjee’s tenure was plagued by regular allegations of “selective secularism”: authorities were accused of permitting regular Islamic processions and Friday namaz on prominent roads, while curbing Hindu festivals like Durga Puja and idol immersions, especially around Muharram. BJP leaders such as Suvendu Adhikari and visiting leaders like Yogi Adityanath repeatedly accused the TMC government of allowing street namaz and iftar feasts while curtailing Hindu processions, further polarising the situation and making it a major election issue.
What happened after BJP came to power
Suvendu Adhikari, now the first BJP chief minister of West Bengal, has been quick to signal a hard law-and-order image. In his first meeting with senior police officers after taking oath, he gave clear instructions: no blocking of roads for regular namaz, no noise from loudspeakers beyond mosque premises, zero-tolerance for sand and coal mining, cattle smuggling, and crimes against women.
Now the situation of peace in Bengal
Despite BJP’s narrative of restoring peace and equality, the immediate post-election period has been marked by intense political violence in parts of West Bengal with reports of targeted killings, arson and clashes between TMC and BJP supporters.
Suvendu Adhikari’s victory and ascension to CM is reshaping the state discourse around “equal law for all,” strict implementation and a more aggressive security-first image, challenging the Mamata-era model of “festival politics” and perceived religious procession imbalances, with the new BJP government.
