West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday (July 20, 2026) announced that starting from September 1, the State Government will give priority to the Bengali language in all official government work.
Mr. Adhikari made the announcement on the floor of West Bengal Legislative Assembly, stating that all official correspondence, and administrative orders of the State government departments will be carried out in Bengali language. The Chief Minister stated that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had written, to him requesting that, on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the use of the Bengali language in West Bengal should be promoted more extensively.
The move to promote Bengali language by the BJP government in West Bengal is an interesting political shift as the Opposition parties, particularly the Trinamool Congress, has accused the BJP of imposing the Hindi language in the State.
“Instead of a foreign language, Bengali and Rajbhasha Hindi can be used in official communications with the Centre,” Mr. Shah said in the letter to Mr. Adhikari.
Mr. Shah mentioned that Bengali language should be given priority in public services, digital administration, and other communications, websites, mobile apps, media advertisements and other governmental interactions.
The Chief Minister said that the State government welcomes this suggestion and that henceforth all official correspondence within West Bengal will be conducted in Bengali.Mr. Adhikari said that Home Minister had suggested that Bengali language should be used extensively in the registration of FIRs, complaint filing, citizen information, and public awareness messages to strengthen the people’s faith in and their participation with the administration.
For communication with the Central Government, both Bengali and Hindi will be used, the Chief Minister said.
The Chief Minister reiterated that the process of fully implementing Bengali as the language of administration in the State government’s work will officially start on September 1.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed the Chief Minister’s remarks on making Bengali mandatory for all official communication. “TMC gave lip service, but the BJP government walks the talk! Under the decisive leadership of Chief Minister Shri @SuvenduWB, a historic step is here to uphold the absolute dignity of our mother tongue. Starting 1st September, the usage of Bengali language is mandatory across all government departments!,” the West Bengal BJP posted on its official X handle.
