With the West Bengal assembly elections approaching fast, the political slugfest over illegal Bangladeshi migrants has intensified once again. Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Kolkata on Tuesday, where he responded to the accusation that the Border Security Force has failed to curb the illegal infiltration. Speaking to reporters, Amit Shah said that he has written seven letters to the West Bengal government seeking land for border fencing, while the Union Home Secretary met the Bengal Chief Secretary three times for the land, but nothing happened.
Shah said that infiltration has stopped in Tripura and Assam, while it continues in West Bengal. Shah claimed that Mamata Banerjee wants the infiltration to continue for political purposes. “Mamata Ji, today I want to ask you a simple question. Which government refuses to provide land for border fencing? I will answer it myself — it is your government that does not provide land for border fencing. I then want to ask why infiltrators first enter Bengal. What are your patwaris and police stations doing? Documents made in Bengal are being recovered from the infiltrators who are being detained. Why are these infiltrators not sent back? Can the Bengal government explain why infiltration has been stopped in Assam and Tripura? It is happening only in Bengal because this is taking place under your watch. You want to change Bengal’s demography to expand your vote bank,” he said.
Shah maintained that infiltration through West Bengal’s border was a national security issue. He pitched for a BJP government in the state to deal with infiltration by ‘sealing Bengal’s borders’. “Infiltration through Bengal’s borders is not just a state issue; it is a matter of national security. If we want to protect the nation’s culture and ensure its security, we must bring in a government that will seal Bengal’s borders. The TMC cannot do this. Only the BJP can,” Shah said.
Exuding confidence, he said that the BJP will form a government in West Bengal with a two-thirds majority. “In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP got 17 per cent votes and two seats. Our party got 10 per cent of the votes and three assembly seats in the 2016 Assembly elections. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 41 per cent of the vote (share) and 18 seats. The party got 21 per cent of the votes and 77 seats in the 2021 Assembly elections. The party, which won three seats in 2016, won 77 seats over the span of five years. Meanwhile, Congress reached zero. The Communist alliance could not get even one seat. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP secured 39 per cent of the votes and 12 seats. In 2026, the BJP will form the government with a majority in West Bengal,” Shah said.
