Kolkata, Mar 28 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday sought to frame the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections as a “battle over infiltration, national security and appeasement politics”, while releasing a political “charge sheet” against the TMC government and asserting that the outcome would have implications not only for the state but also for the country’s security.
Launching a broadside against the Mamata Banerjee government in a press conference here, Shah alleged that after 15 years of the TMC rule, West Bengal had become the country’s “principal corridor” for infiltration due to “the ruling party’s appeasement politics, corruption and political violence”.
“Mamata Didi has always played the politics of the victim card. Sometimes she talks about her injury; sometimes she abuses the Election Commission. But the people of West Bengal now understand her victim card politics very well,” he said.
Hitting out at Banerjee over her opposition to the SIR exercise, Shah accused her of manufacturing outrage to protect the TMC’s “minority vote bank”.
“SIR has been conducted in other states as well, but nowhere has it been made such an issue. It has become an issue in West Bengal only because Mamata Banerjee wants to protect her vote bank. Abusing constitutional bodies like the EC is not part of Bengali culture,” Shah added.
Claiming that infiltration through Assam has “almost come to an end” after the BJP came to power in the northeastern state, Shah sought to recast the West Bengal polls as something larger than a state contest, arguing that the state had now become the “last remaining route” through which infiltrators enter India and fan out across the country.
“The West Bengal polls are important not only for the state but for the entire country. The security of the entire country is, in a way, linked to the West Bengal elections,” he said.
“West Bengal is the only state from where infiltrators are entering the country and creating disturbances across the nation. Infiltration through the bordering areas of the state is a matter concerning national security,” he alleged.
Shah said the security of the strategically crucial Siliguri Corridor — a narrow strip connecting the Northeast with the rest of India — was being endangered because of the TMC government’s policies.
“Due to appeasement and vote-bank politics of the TMC government, the security of the Siliguri Corridor is being threatened,” he said.
The Home Minister further alleged that despite repeated requests by the Centre, the Mamata Banerjee government had not provided the land required for fencing along the India-Bangladesh border.
“The TMC government has not provided land for border fencing as they want to create a vote bank of infiltrators,” he alleged.
Shah said that if the BJP came to power in West Bengal, it would hand over the required land to the Centre within 45 days.
“On May 6, a BJP government will be formed in West Bengal, and within 45 days, the land required for fencing the border will be provided by the state’s BJP government to the Centre, and we will stop infiltration,” he said.
Shah also signalled that “purification of electoral rolls” would become one of the BJP’s central planks in the campaign.
“I want to ask the people of West Bengal, should those infiltrators who have been allowed to stay here be given the right to vote? I want to make it clear from the BJP’s side that we will not only remove infiltrators from the voter list, but also from the country,” he added.
If the BJP’s 2021 campaign revolved around the promise of a ‘Sonar Bangla’ (golden Bengal), Shah’s latest pitch suggested that the party intends to recast the 2026 election in much more emotional terms.
“In the coming elections, West Bengal has to choose between fear and trust. For the last 15 years, the state has seen the rule of fear, corruption and appeasement politics. Mamata Banerjee is using lies and violence to further her politics. TMC comes to power on the basis of lies, fear and violence,” Shah said.
He accused the ruling party of converting political violence into an electoral strategy.
“Law and order has completely collapsed in West Bengal. Political violence has been turned into a weapon by Mamata Banerjee to win elections,” Shah alleged.
The “charge sheet” released by Shah accused the TMC government of turning West Bengal into a “laboratory of corruption”, institutionalising ‘syndicate raj’ and presiding over industrial decline.
“This charge sheet is a compilation of the dark deeds of the TMC government over 15 years. It is the story of a regime that established syndicate rule by dangling the dream of ‘Sonar Bangla’ and exploiting the people of the state,” Shah said.
“Under TMC’s misrule, West Bengal has turned into a laboratory for corruption. Criminal syndicates are tormenting the public. In the absence of development, West Bengal has become, in a way, a graveyard for industry,” he alleged.
The BJP leader also accused the state government of extending OBC benefits on religious grounds.
“The TMC government has decided on OBC reservation on the basis of religion. We should know that Mamata Banerjee included 77 communities in the OBC category, out of which 75 are Muslim communities. Are there no other communities left? Will the OBC list now be decided on the basis of religion?” The BJP also appeared keen to frame the election as a direct contest between Mamata Banerjee and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, particularly in north Bengal and the border districts where the party has traditionally fared well.
Shah said BJP workers have entered the polls “with great confidence” as Adhikari has been touring West Bengal extensively, highlighting issues such as infiltration, economic distress, disorder and “anarchy”.
Shah said the BJP’s vote share in West Bengal has climbed steadily to around 40 per cent now, both in Lok Sabha and assembly elections, making it the principal challenger to the TMC. PTI PNT ACD
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