— ✍️Debjanee Ganguly 

The demolition of bookstalls across Bengal has put the Left party in Bengal on the political map. They have got the much-needed publicity due to Adhikari's vitriol against the Communists and allegedly ultra-left-wing parties. These bookstalls have gone practically unnoticed for years by the larger public. In the aftermath of the destruction of bookstalls, their sales have soared. No publicity is bad publicity. The Left must grab this fine opportunity to widen their reach.

Delhi is not India and Kolkata is not Bengal. However, quite by chance these demolitions have happened across the state, in several parts of Kolkata, East Midnapore, North 24 Parganas, Darjeeling, Howrah, Hooghly and Nadia. The spread of attacks could not have been wider. The youth (and that includes Gen Z) has got introduced to the Left in a dynamic way rather than the usual student politics and 50 shades of red. While bookstalls may be a matter of elite politics, the very fact that this has happened in multiple places across the state widens the issue beyond the usual Kolkata politics.

TMC's beginning of the end

Bengal takes education and related matters very seriously. It was the education scam that began unfolding in 2021 that played a huge role in swinging the voters from the ruling TMC to the BJP. At the height of the SSC scam, the problems with TMC leaders and the party in general were now publicly debated in bookshops, tea stalls and other public spaces. Mamata Banerjee had for long maintained an image in the eyes of the public that she was not corrupt even though her party people engaged in dubious activities. When the then education minister Partha Chatterjee was caught with wads of notes stashed under his bed, she did the only sensible thing one could do. She washed her hands off the matter, dismissed the politician and made overtures for resetting the mood of the public. But the deed was done.

The matter had gone up to the Supreme Court and daily dharnas of several batches of SSC candidates unfairly denied jobs became an unmissable part of public life. The SSC scam was among the first of the scams that began to unfold in her second term. Added to this was her unwise act of recruiting civic volunteers (read party workers) to teach at the primary level without any check on qualification, which furthered the claim that education in Bengal was going a bad way. Her repeated calls for saving the jobs of those who had not qualified for the SSC tarnished her image. The Left too, while in power in Bengal, got a beating due to the poor state of education and their outdated education policies that definitely put the children of Bengal on the back foot for generations.

Bengal's legacy

Even though Bengal has been left far behind in education, the public rues the days when intellectuals from across the country and even the world over would come to further their knowledge. That is a two-hundred-year-old story, at the very least, but fond memories are hard to part with. Bengalis take immense pride in their cultural and intellectual legacy. Glories of Bankim, Tagore, Nazrul, Vidyasagar, Rammohan among several others are sung as if they happened yesterday. The Kolkata Boi Mela, which started in 1976, is the third largest book fair in the world. It is an integral part of Kolkata's identity. Books are coterminous with the intellectual air that abounds in Bengalis. There is the oft-repeated quip – What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow. Bengal is the seat of intellectual pride and arrogance.

Over the decades, the brain drain that overtook Bengal has not gone unnoticed. No student, if they can help it, would remain in Bengal for longer than she needs to. In fact, many BJP Bengal stalwarts made it a key electoral pitch to return to Bengal its intellectual glory. Adhikari has repeatedly accused the TMC and the Left of half a century of destruction of education in Bengal. Destroying bookstalls is not the best demonstration of restoring the glorious past.

Where religion and knowledge meet

Bengal is the land where the Goddess of Knowledge is revered with much fanfare. From maths books to just a simple pen, everything is placed humbly before the Goddess Saraswati in firm belief that she will ensure that the student will pass without preparation. Few states revere the Goddess of Knowledge as passionately as Bengal does. Saraswati is an integral part of Bengal's culture, which sees elaborate festivities on the day of Saraswati Puja marking the commingling of knowledge, culture and religion among other things. In such a land, demolition of bookstalls leaves a very bitter taste in the mouth. It hardly matters if the books call for a revolution or bloodshed. To witness books being tossed about would hurt the sentiments of the average Bengali. That books are sacred should not have to be told to a Bengal-based leader.

What the Left must do

The demolition of bookstalls has given the Left a shot in the arm. The Left must seize the opportunity to widen the outcry beyond their bookstalls and perhaps start a boi banchao andolan – save books movement or even a shikkha sanskriti banchao andolan – save education and culture movement. This goes beyond the Left's traditional base, touching ordinary Bengalis who value both education and culture. The Left for too long has been disassociated with public woes. Their marches against eviction of roadside vendors did not gain much traction. It is not enough that the hardcore Left turn up for its marches; it needs to engage more people across the state. It is time the Left spoke in the language of the people. Perhaps they could shed their fear of religion and invoke the disdain of Saraswati over such acts. It would be much fun to see how BJP Bengal would recover from a religiously lined attack by the Left. Perhaps they could start a movement along the lines of Saraswati banchabe, Saraswati ke Banchao – Saraswati will save, save knowledge. Saraswati and Bengal's intellectual legacy are powerful rhetorical tools that could be used by the Left to stir up the sentiments of ordinary Bengalis, especially the youth. It would have a much larger appeal than merely reducing the issue at hand to a matter to be solved by political elites of Kolkata.

The Left has got unprecedented public attention. Even its 2026 election campaigns were largely ignored by the media. This time it has grabbed the headlines. It has been presented with a rare opportunity to shift from being seen as "elite intellectuals" to defenders of everyday values. Now it is up to the Left to convert this into greater reach among the masses across the state.

-Debjanee Ganguly is an Assistant Professor at Rammohan College, University of Calcutta, whose research and writing explore the intersection of politics, education, and culture in contemporary Bengal.