West Bengal Polls: Once Naxalism's epicentre, Naxalbari is now a BJP stronghold

Bengaijote (Naxalbari): As the Centre declares the country "Naxal-free", Bengaijote village in Naxalbari block of West Bengal's Darjeeling district has returned to focus - this time for a political shift rather than insurgency. The village had witnessed the 1967 peasant uprising that sparked the spread of the Naxalite movement across India.

A row of busts of Left ideologues - Karl Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao Tse-tung, Lin Biao, Charu Mazumdar, Saroj Dutt and Mahadev Mukherjee - still stands by the roadside in Bengaijote, marking the birthplace of Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) in the country.

Also Read | India's Naxal deadline: Forces launch final assault, Centre prepares blueprint post March 31


More than five decades later, Naxalbari has undergone a sharp political transition - from Left dominance to a Rightward shift. In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls, BJP's Anandamoy Barman won the Matigara-Naxalbari (SC) seat by over 70,000 votes, defeating the Trinamool Congress candidate Rajen Sundas.

"In Naxalbari-Maniram, there are 58 booths. We have been winning around 50 booths in different polls. The remaining eight have a sizeable minority population," said BJP worker Asit Malakar at Chicken Neck Chowk. He claimed that locals had grown disillusioned with Naxalism, adding that Hathi Gheesa - birthplace of Naxal leader Charu Mazumdar - is now a BJP stronghold.

BJP Mandal secretary Asim Mandol pointed to rising participation of youth in RSS "shakhas" and large turnouts at Ram Navami processions. "Processions from different villages converge in Naxalbari town every year. It reflects the growing influence of the BJP-RSS in the birthplace of Naxalism," he said.

Also Read | Kolkata region records highest name deletions in Bengal SIR draft

BJP district secretary Manglu Roy said the RSS had a presence even during the peak of the Naxalite movement, though it faced resistance. "Those were difficult times. Naxalites did not allow RSS shakhas and even snatched saffron flags," he said.

Recalling local social dynamics, Roy added that even families loyal to the CPI(M) and former chief minister Jyoti Basu encouraged their children to attend RSS shakhas.

In the 2026 Assembly polls, sitting BJP MLA Anandamoy Barman faces former MLA Sankar Malakar, now the Trinamool Congress nominee. Malakar was earlier with the Congress.

"BJP has built a strong organisational base here over the past decade, with regular booth-level meetings," said Salen Roy, a BJP leader and Panchayat Samiti member from Bengaijote, who earlier belonged to the CPI(M).

The Matigara-Naxalbari Assembly segment falls under the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency, which the BJP has held since 2009.