West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took out a huge protest march with Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee and other leaders on 16 July 2025 amid rains in Kolkata. The march was against the alleged custody and harassment of Bengali -speaking migrant laborers in BJP -ruled states, such as Odisha, Delhi, Maharashtra, Assam and Gujarat. Mamta accused the central government that it issued a secret notification in February, instructing the BJP -ruled states to detain suspected Bangladeshi citizens. He said, “I will speak more Bengali now, take me into custody too.”
Mamta claimed that 2.2 million Bengali migrant laborers work in different parts of the country and have valid identity documents. He accused the BJP of discrediting Bengalis as Rohingya and said, “I challenge, prove that Bengali laborers are Rohingya.” In the three -kilometer march from Kolkata’s College Square to Dorina Crossing, Mamta warned the BJP that if Bengalis were detained, Bengal would take them in “political custody” in the 2026 elections.
The TMC cited incidents of detaining of laborers in Odisha, eviction on settlements in Delhi and a farmer of Cooch Behar in Assam as foreigners. Mamta said that the BJP is manipulating the voter list, as he won by removing the name in Maharashtra and is now doing so in Bihar. In response, BJP leader Suv Endu official accused Mamta of saving illegal Bangladeshi intruders in the name of Bengali Asmita.
The March included senior TMC leaders, such as Firhad Hakim, and thousands of activists. Mamta appealed to the voters to examine the name in her list and asked to oppose the Election Commission’s efforts to amend the voter list in Bengal.
