The distance between Malda, a small district town of West Bengal, and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu is 2,464 km.

But this week, Malda resonated in the southern town at the RSS' three-day long convention called Akhil Bhartiya Pratinidhi Sabha (AVPS).

The Sangh passed a resolution against alleged atrocities on Hindus and the alleged appeasement of minorities by West Bengal Government.

This January RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat held a rally at Kolkata's iconic Brigade Parade Ground

The Malda riots featured prominently in that as did mention of places like Burdwan, Kaliachak, Dhulagarh.

Burdwan bomb factory turned out to be a terror incident, Kaliachak a communal incident where one community gathered and burnt down a police station and Dhulagarh where riots and arson were reported but Mamata Banerjee government rubbished it as a 'small incident blown out of proportion'.

The message from Coimbatore was clear: Sangh has decided its next target, West Bengal. And not without reason.

Right wing Hindutva ideology is increasingly gaining foothold in the traditionally 'communist' West Bengal.

And with each passing month there's not only growing acceptance but a reasonable surge from Kolkata to the district and down to block level.

Ask Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta and he will explain, 'There's a perceived sense that the government of the day is moving backwards to accommodate these sectarian forces.

'The aggressive Muslim appeasement by left and even more now by Mamata government be it in Education or in jobs has left hindus disillusioned.

'That's why you see the surge in Bengal of such right-wing forces. These groups are working as a support group who stand up for their rights. It's natural that they get support from them in return. This is a mutually beneficial arrangement.'

This January RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat held a rally at Kolkata's iconic Brigade Parade Ground.

Those who observed politics up close in Bengal will agree that till five years back no one could imagine such a Sangh rally in the heart of Kolkata with thousands of saffron flags aflutter.

More recently, on 2nd march the Sanghs' students wing ABVP held a protest march in Kolkata where they torched effigy of what they perceived as 'anti nationals breeding in campuses', in the light of Ramjas College controversy in Delhi University where JNU scholar Umar Khalid wasn't allowed to speak.

Student politics in Bengal has always been dominated by Left's SFI or DSO and more recently Trinamool Congress' TMCP.

ABVP has always been an invisible force.

Purulia, a southern district of West Bengal known for its unique dance form Chhou, in February witnessed for the first time a protest by Bajrang Dal, the ultra right youth organisation of Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

On Valentine's day, Bajrang Dal chose to celebrate it as Martyrdom day with photos of Independence movement icons.

These incidents cannot be seen separately from the big picture that is emerging in the state, as Swapan Dasputa pointed out.

Students learning in a class at Madrasa school in West Bengal

The budgetary allocation this year for Minority Affairs and Madrasa education is a whopping Rs 2815 cr.

The allocation is higher than allocations for Tribal Welfare and Paschimanchal Unnayan.

Paschimanchal is the same area that was once severely Maoist dominated and incidents like lalgarh helped Mamata come to power. The allocation is also higher than large scale industries, textiles and IT put together.

And we are talking about a state that is craving for Industries. Ever since Tatas shut shop at Singur, all the state has seen or heard of is signing MoUs.

The amount set aside for Madrasas is also higher than the money set aside for Irrigation.

'Its a signal that Mamata Banerjee government is sending, that for her government, Madrasas are more important than irrigation, heavy industries, textiles, Information technology, tourism or for that matter even Tribal welfare', alleges Sourish Mukherjee, Bengal Spokesperson of VHP.

Recently CPI(M) lawmaker raised the issue in Assembly about Sangh-affiliated schools allegedly teaching religious intolerance.

In rare reciprocity, the Bengal government went cracking in no time and issued show cause notice to 125 schools as why they should not be shut as they did not have No-Objection certificates.

TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee

There are hundreds of schools that are run by trusts like Sarada Shishu Tirtha, Saraswati Shishu Mandir and Vivekanada Vidya Vikas Parishad.

The closure threat hasn't gone down well with many parents who are mostly from tribal belts of Western Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia district.

State education Minister Partha Chatterjee out rightly calls them breeding ground of hatred.

He is quoted to be saying, 'This is a genuine complaint and the school education department is inquiring into the charges against those schools.'

He hasn't ruled out options of shutting them down. But state BJP President Dilip Ghosh hits back saying, 'What about the madrasas that breed real hatred? These are ways to defame Hindus and appease Mamatas core vote bank'.

However, there's no evidence yet of its teaching religious hatred. RSS Sah Sarkaryavah Shri Bhaiyah Ji Joshi on the sidelines of the National Council Meet in Coimbatore during an interaction with the media focused primarily on Bengal.

This shows how Bengal is on top on its agenda after Uttar Pradesh. He said that the situation in Bengal for Hindus is 'alarming'.

The Mamata government also went ahead with a stipend system whose legality can be debated.

State Minority Development and Finance Organisation issued advertisements in leading dailies stating that minority students securing less than 50 per cent marks in last board or academic examination will be given a stipend to continue their studies.

Contrast this with a student from non-minority background who can be equally if not more economically weak fighting to get an admission even after obtaining extra ordinary numbers in his or her boards.

Ask TMCs Muslim face in parliament Idrees Ali whether it's a religious favouritism or not and pat comes the reply, 'Certainly it's not.

It is a way to help poor students from minority so that they can continue their studies.'

And if you are a student who couldn't make it to a college of his choice and this justification fails to convince you, comes organisations like Hindu Jagran Manch to make sure the favouritism yields political dividend.

Hindu Jagran Manch is a new organisation but has grown phenomenally in last two years. They not only have a chief but district heads and even zonal heads.

From time to time the Sangh hot shots give the 'leaders' audience to make sure the macro ideology of this organisation is in sync with that of the Sangh. In Birbhum construction of a new mosque became a flashpoint.

In Nadia 'Love Jihad', a term coined by then BJP MP and now Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath became an issue.

'Both the red (CPIM led left front) and Green (TMC) catered to them (minorities). Who would stand up for Hindus? So we did,' says Pankaj Mandal Of HJM.

Then there are initiatives that have no formal office or post bearers but has a sizeable following.

RSS on parade: This week, Malda resonated in the southern town at the RSS' three-day long convention called Akhil Bhartiya Pratinidhi Sabha (AVPS)

They function off the social media. 'Hindu Samhati' is one such platform that is just a blog. But it attracts traffic more than a small website. Another website that's quite a hit with Bengals right leaning young and restless lot is www.hinduexistence.org.

It talks about issues like shutting down threat to Sangh linked schools or Dhulagarh riots. Needless to say the presentation is provocative and works more like a propaganda. But propaganda has its own takers as well.

As many as 5040 people regularly follow articles on this website and many contribute to it. Interestingly they have Twitter handle and Facebook page as well where they try to create a discussion, to put it mildly.

When the 'Ma, Mati, Manush' government came to being, the chief minister announced 'Imam Bhata' or a fixed stipend for Imams. An outright appeasement policy that many from even within TMC accepts off record.

The disgruntled priests found a friend in Vishwa Hindu Parishad and year after year continue to sell this point and successfully.

On 6th April VHP is organising 'Barasat Chalo' (Let's go to Barasat) where they will congregate demanding a Ram Temple at Ayodhya. Just a day before on 5th April, VHP is holding a procession in Uluberia to commemorate Ram Navami, something that never held any significance in West Bengal.

So what's working for them? 'It's a land of Hindus. Hindus are always rising. Whether at odds or not, in Bengal or Gujrat, Hindus are always on rise', comes a cryptic answer from Pravin Togadia, the top man of VHP with a smirk.

CPIM Polit Bureau Member Mohammed d Salim told Mail Today,'RSS in Bengal is due to Mamata. They are supplementing and complimenting each other'.

Ask Adhir Ranjan Choudhury, Bengal PCC Chief and he will give a similar answer,'When TMC came to power there were 400-450 sakhas in Bengal. Today there are 1600-1700 sakhas in Bengal. Need I say more?'