A video featuring BJP MLA from Barrackpore, Koustav Bagchi, pressuring a Muslim woman to chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ in a government-organised programme for the newly launched women’s welfare scheme, Annapurna Yojna, has gone viral.
The incident took place on June 3, 2026, during the inaugural ceremony of BJP’s women’s welfare scheme, Annapurna Yojna, organised in Sukanta Sadan in Barrackpore, an event attended by Bagchi. A video circulating on social media captures the MLA engaging with a Muslim woman seated in the front row of the auditorium.
In a seemingly light-hearted tone, Bagchi asks the woman, BJP desh theke tariye dicche na toh? (“The BJP is not driving you out of the country, is it?”). He then follows up by asking, “Is BJP good or bad?”
As the woman in question replies in her feeble voice, Bagchi demands, “BJP is giving Rs 3000; therefore, you have to chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’” and then keeps coercing the woman to chant ‘Jai’ as he said, ‘Bharat Mata ki’.
Surrounded by a crowd and visibly under pressure, she said, “Jai”, after being repeatedly prompted. But Bagchi did not stop there; he thereafter asked her to chant ‘Vande Mataram’. He instructed, “Now say, ‘Vande Mataram’”. The woman succumbed and said very softly, putting her head down, “Vande Mataram”.
Bagchi said, “One has to say this. We are Indians. We have to behave like one”.
He is Kaustav Bagchi, BJP’s MLA from Barrackpore.
Two Muslim women came to submit forms for Annapurna Bhandar, where he insults them and stereotypes them. pic.twitter.com/do4qjeHVi3— Kamru Choudhury (@Kamru_Choudhury) June 4, 2026
On June 3, a post was made from Bagchi’s official Facebook page stating that he attended the inaugural ceremony of the “Annapurna Yojna”.
What was particularly disturbing about the incident was the imbalance of power dynamics. Within a month of BJP assuming power in West Bengal, a Muslim woman — an applicant for a state welfare scheme — was publicly pressured by an elected MLA to proclaim slogans associated with nationalism and the ruling party’s political discourse, despite her visible discomfort and hesitant responses.
The episode also raises troubling questions about whether access to welfare is symbolically tied to displays of ideological conformity. Bagchi’s remarks that “we are Indians, we have to behave like one” reinforce a long-standing tendency to cast Muslims as people who must repeatedly prove their loyalty to the nation.
In 2023, Koustav Bagchi, then with Congress, shaved his head and vowed to remain bald until the Trinamool Congress (TMC) was voted out of power in West Bengal. His symbolic protest was sparked by his arrest for allegedly making remarks about former chief minister Mamata Banerjee, in which he criticized Banerjee for her “personal attack” on Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
After resigning from Congress due to a “lack of respect” within the organization, Bagchi joined the BJP on February 29, 2024. He subsequently contested the 2026 assembly elections as a candidate for the Barrackpore seat, and defeated Bengali film maker and TMC candidate Raj Chakraborty.
Following its victory in Bengal, the BJP government introduced Annapurna Yojna, a women’s welfare scheme aimed at women aged 25 to 60. In this scheme, the eligible beneficiaries will receive Rs 3000 per month, replacing the former ruling party’s Lakshmir Bhandar scheme, under which women received Rs 1500-1800 per month.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Ankita Mahalanobish.
Ankita Mahalanobish | Radio Free (2026-06-09T09:21:18+00:00) Bengal BJP MLA forces Muslim woman to chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ at welfare scheme event. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2026/06/09/bengal-bjp-mla-forces-muslim-woman-to-chant-bharat-mata-ki-jai-at-welfare-scheme-event/
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