Chief minister Mamata Banerjee in a statement post 11pm on Saturday appealed for peace in Bengal and named the RSS for what she claimed was a vicious attack on the state.

“BJP and its allies have suddenly become very aggressive in Bengal. These allies include RSS. I have not taken the RSS name earlier, but I am forced now to identify them. Together, they all have initiated a vicious false campaign against the state,” Mamata said in the written statement.

“These forces are using the backdrop of an unfortunate incident that happened on provocation. They are using the backdrop to play divisive politics. They are planning to, play the 'divide and rule' game. This is sinister.”

Earlier on Saturday, Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose and members of the National Commission for Women were in Murshidabad, meeting those affected in the communal violence that erupted in the former capital of the Nawabs in the 17th and 18th century.

“My appeal is please remain calm,” Mamata wrote in the four-page statement – the exact words that she has been saying on the microphone in her public and administrative meetings over the past week.

“We condemn communal riots and must curb them. The criminals behind the riots are being strongly dealt with. But, simultaneously, we must avoid mutual mistrust and distrust. The majority and the minority communities must work together and take care of each other.”

The BJP leaders including the likes of the Uttar Pradesh chief minister to the homegrown ones like the leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and the state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar have been harping on the attack on Hindus, seemingly the party's only strategy to win over enough voters to help beat the Trinamool.

“They had originally planned to use the Ram Navami day for playing With fire, but the Ram Navami celebrations in West Bengal have been most peaceful. Then they tried to use some subsequent matters relating to the agitations against the Waqf (Amendment) Act,” Mamata wrote.

“BJP and its allies are defaming the universal Hinduism of ours in the name of their so-called political agenda. In India, the Hinduism of Sri Ramakrishna-Swami Vivekananda is a universal religion. This universal religion teaches me to embrace all, accept all, love all. It teaches me to respect all religions, from Hinduism to Islam to Christianity to Sikhism to Buddhism to Jainism to Judaism.

“Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore also teaches us to love all religions of all humnan beings. This was the religion of our ancient tapovans. In contrast, what the BJP and their allies are propagating, are false and narrow. Their utterances are garbage of lies, based on misquotes. Please ,do not trust them. They want to incite riots, and riots can affect everyone. We love all. We want to, stay together. We condemn riots. We are against riots. They want to divide us for some narrow electoral politics.”

“For maintaining law and order and for saving human lives and dignity, we have taken strong actions,” wrote Mamata, who holds the home (police) portfolio.

“Two police officers-in-charge have been removed. Police are investigating. Further actions are being taken. Please remember that riots are created neither by Hindus, nor by Muslims – riots are engineered by criminals. Strict actions will be taken against those criminals. No one will be spared.”

The state police have arrested over 270 people involved in the attacks and murder of a father-son duo in Murshidabad’s Dhulian.

At the end of the long statement, Mamata wrote: “Finally, my appeal to everyone again is: stay calm, stay united. Do not give in to mistrust and distrust. Do not be diverted by their false communal rhetoric. Let us remain together and combat bad propaganda. Let us fight their hooliganism and falsehood. Let us remain united as Indians.”

Twenty-two years ago, at an event in the national capital, Mamata, then the main Opposition leader against the Left in Bengal, had reached out to the Sangh Parivar brass, seeking their support.

“If you (the RSS) give us just 1 per cent support, we will be able to fight red terror,” she had told the assembled RSS brass, including the present Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat in September 2003.

“I have never got to meet so many RSS leaders, though I have met some individually. You people are true patriots. I know you love the country, you care for even small, remote areas of the country,” Mamata had told the RSS leadership, while speaking at the launch of Communist Terrorism, a book compiled and edited by then editor of the RSS mouthpiece Tarun Vijay.

Fourteen years in the seat of power and with the BJP now risen to the position of main Opposition, Mamata seemingly has begun to feel the heat ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.

Since Mamata came to power in 2011, the Left Front has repeatedly accused her of allowing the RSS space to grow in the state. In the last two years, the RSS has added over 500 new shakhas in the state with the thrust in central Bengal which alone has 1,823 shakhas. North Bengal has 1,153 and there are 1,564 RSS shakhas in south Bengal.

The communal violence in Murshidabad that left three dead and thousands homeless in the wake of the anti-Waqf protests has come at a time the Trinamool government is reeling under severe strictures from the Supreme Court over the cash-for-jobs scam in the recruitment of teachers and non-teaching staff in state-run and state-aided schools.