‘Communal’ BJP’s swearing-in ad on CPI(M) mouthpiece front page raises eyebrows

The advertisement was not a routine government publicity campaign issued days later, but a prominent front-page announcement published on the very day of the oath-taking ceremony at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground, making the optics even more striking.

The development quickly sparked reactions online and within political circles, with many pointing to the contradiction of the CPI(M)’s official newspaper prominently featuring a celebratory BJP government message despite decades of ideological hostility between the two camps.

The CPI(M) has consistently accused the BJP of practising divisive and communal politics, often projecting itself as one of the saffron party’s strongest ideological opponents.

Against that backdrop, the full-page swearing-in advertisement in Ganashakti became a talking point amid Bengal’s rapidly shifting political landscape.

While government advertisements are commonly distributed across publications irrespective of editorial alignment, the timing, prominence and nature of the advertisement — announcing the BJP government’s assumption of office — made the moment particularly symbolic.

State govt ad after 15 years

Ganashakti did not receive a single West Bengal government advertisement after the Left Front was voted out of office in 2011, according to party sources.

The CPI(M) repeatedly accused the Mamata Banerjee government of withholding advertisements despite the newspaper’s recognition under official norms.

Party leaders argued that the denial affected the finances of the publication, which relied partly on advertising revenue.

The dispute over state advertisements reached the Calcutta High Court in 2014.

The court ruled that newspapers recognised by the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI) were entitled to receive government advertisements in accordance with established norms.

Despite the order, the CPI(M) alleged that the Trinamool Congress government did not restore advertisements to Ganashakti.

However, following the BJP’s victory and the formation of the Suvendu Adhikari-led government, state advertisements have reappeared in the CPI(M) daily after a gap of one-and-a-half decades.

Party insiders said the return of government advertisements could provide financial support to the newspaper after years without this source of revenue.

Ganashakti editor and CPI-M State Secretariat member Samik Lahiri said the newspaper was legally entitled to receive government advertisements.

He said the previous administration had ignored both the law and the High Court’s directions, and that advertisements were now being issued in accordance with established norms.

Lahiri added that it remained uncertain whether the arrangement would continue in the future.