Bengal BJP govt places ad in CPI(M)'s Ganashakti after 15-year ban
Synopsis
On its first day in office, Bengal's new BJP government placed a full-page advertisement in CPI(M)'s Ganashakti — ending a 15-year exclusion enforced by the Mamata Banerjee administration. The move signals a deliberate break from TMC-era media politics and an unexpected early overture toward the ideological left.
Key Takeaways
The BJP-led West Bengal government under Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari placed a full-page ad in Ganashakti , the CPI(M) party organ, on 9 May 2025 — its first day in office.
Ganashakti had not received a state government advertisement in 15 years , since the TMC came to power in 2011 .
The publication had challenged the advertising ban in court but received no relief during the TMC's tenure.
CPI(M) state secretary Mohd Salim welcomed the move cautiously, calling it a good signal while urging continued vigilance.
Senior BJP leaders including Adhikari , Sukanta Majumdar , and Samik Bhattacharya have previously praised veteran CPI(M) leaders for their integrity.
The first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in West Bengal since Independence, headed by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, sent an early signal of cross-party outreach on its very first day in office. On Saturday, 9 May 2025, Ganashakti — the Bengali-language party organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) — received a full-page state government advertisement marking the new Cabinet's oath-taking ceremony, the first such placement in 15 years.
A 15-Year Advertising Blackout Ends
Ganashakti, whose name translates to 'people power', had been systematically excluded from state government advertising since 2011 — the year the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) ended the 34-year Left Front regime under then Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. According to reports, the exclusion followed strict instructions from Banerjee's administration. The advertisement placed on Saturday carried photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
The development is notable for its symbolic weight: the BJP, which had fiercely contested the Left for decades in Bengal, is now extending a gesture that the TMC — once the Left's principal challenger — never offered. This is the first time since the Left Front's fall that the CPI(M)'s flagship publication has featured in a state government media buy.
Ganashakti's Long Legal Battle
After the TMC came to power in 2011, Ganashakti challenged the advertisement ban in court, arguing that an elected state government could not adopt such a partisan approach toward a legally operating press organ. Despite the legal challenge, no relief materialised, and the publication remained excluded from state government advertising for the entirety of the 15-year TMC tenure. Banerjee's government had also reportedly issued directives on which newspapers would be stocked in state-run libraries — a move that drew criticism from press freedom advocates.
CPI(M) Responds Cautiously
CPI(M) politburo member and West Bengal state secretary Mohd Salim welcomed the move, while stopping short of an outright endorsement.
Point of View
High-signal move by the Adhikari government — one that simultaneously distances it from TMC-era press partisanship and courts a Left base that has been politically homeless since 2011. But a single advertisement does not a policy make. The real test is whether the new government institutionalises equitable media spending across all recognised publications, or whether this remains a Day 1 gesture designed more for optics than principle. Bengal's press landscape has been shaped by patronage politics for decades; reversing that will require structural commitments, not just symbolic placements.
NationPress
8 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Ganashakti not receive state government advertisements for 15 years?
Ganashakti was excluded from state government advertising after the Trinamool Congress came to power in West Bengal in 2011, reportedly on strict instructions from then Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The exclusion lasted the entire 15-year TMC tenure despite a legal challenge by the publication.
What advertisement did the Bengal government place in Ganashakti?
The new BJP-led West Bengal government placed a full-page advertisement in Ganashakti on 9 May 2025 to mark the oath-taking ceremony of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's Cabinet. The ad carried photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Adhikari.
How did CPI(M) react to the advertisement?
CPI(M) politburo member and West Bengal state secretary Mohd Salim welcomed the move as a good signal that the autocratic approach of the previous regime might end, while cautioning that it should not be seen as an exceptional case but as standard practice.
Why have BJP leaders praised CPI(M) figures like Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee?
Senior BJP leaders including Suvendu Adhikari, Sukanta Majumdar, and Samik Bhattacharya have publicly praised late former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Left Front chairman Biman Bose for their personal integrity and absence of corruption — contrasting them with what they describe as widespread corruption under TMC rule.
