Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 30: The political temperature in West Bengal rose sharply on Tuesday as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Union home minister Amit Shah traded barbs and snide remarks in equal measure clashing over corruption, infiltration and the exercise for the Special Intensive Revision of voters’ list setting the tone for an intensifying battle ahead of the State Assembly elections early next year.
Despite the Border Security Force official said it maintained close vigil on the international borders, Mr Shah, who is on a three-day visit to West Bengal to kickstart the BJP’s poll campaign, accused Banerjee of presiding over an atmosphere of “fear, corruption and misgovernance,” while alleging that her government was facilitating the infiltration of Bangladeshis, a process he claimed had “dangerously altered” West Bengal’s demography over the past few years.
The BSF officials while repudiating Bangladesh government’s claim that the alleged assailants of Sharif Osman Hadi could have slipped into India through Meghalaya border, had claimed earlier this week that the security forces maintained strict vigil on India’s border with Bangladesh and it was not possible for anyone to slip into India without its knowledge.
Mr Shah said, “Due to corruption under the Mamata Banerjee-led government in the state, development in West Bengal has stopped. All beneficial schemes started by Modi ji have become victims of the toll syndicate here. Fear and corruption have become West Bengal’s identity for the last 14 years,” Shah said.
The senior BJP leader also ripped into Banerjee over the ‘ghuspaithiya’, or ‘infiltration’, issue – a topic on which the Trinamool has been repeatedly targeted, with the BJP claiming the party looks the other way when illegal foreign nationals cross over, in exchange for their votes.
“Once there is a BJP Government in the State, we will not only identify infiltrators, but we’ll also drive them out. We will build such a strong national grid, which will end infiltration from Bengal. Leave alone humans, even the birds would not be able to cross the borders,” the Home Minister said.
Mr Shah countered the charge made by Trinamool Congress that the Border Service Force (BSF) is deployed at the borders and hence the agency should be held accountable for infiltration. The Home Minister said West Bengal will have to make land available for erecting fences along the border.
As long as there is no fencing, BSF cannot provide security. BSF will have to be provided with land. At my level, I have written seven letters (to the Chief Minister). The Union Home Secretary has come to meet the State’s Chief Secretary three times in the past six years. I want to ask the Trinamool Congress Government why you are afraid of giving land? Don’t you have any responsibility?” Mr Shah said.
“I want to assure you the BJP, under no circumstance, will have any understanding with that political party which encourages illegal infiltration and pampers infiltrators to protect their dedicated voter bank,” Shah raged at a press conference on Tuesday evening. “Infiltration is an extremely serious issue… considering the demography in the state is changing because of the menace. Unless this is checked immediately, the suffering of the people of Bengal will increase manifold in the coming days,” he declared.
In her typically combative style the Chief Minister responded by calling Amit Shah ‘Dushasan’ –the character in Hindu epic ‘Mahabharat’– and criticised the Home Minister and the BJP over the “SIR” exercise of the state’s voter list, a contentious exercise and major flashpoint before polls in Bengal and Tamil Nadu next year.
She tore into ‘Dushasan’ and ‘Duryodhan’ – an epithet many saw as referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi – on the SIR, declaring “they are saying 1.5 crore voters will be deleted.” Mamata Banerjee also hit out over the rash of deaths during the SIR, specifically booth level officers (BLOs) tasked with distributing and collecting enumeration forms. “Around 60 people died due to SIR. Elderly people are being called for document verification hearings… if even a single legitimate voter’s name is deleted, we will gherao the Election Commission office…”
On the land allotment charge the Chief Minister hit back, “They are saying ‘Mamata hasn’t given land’! Who has done all the development work? We have. If I didn’t give land, how would they extract coal in Bengal? We have given land. Only big talks and lies.” “Only Bengal has infiltrators? No infiltrators in Kashmir? I want to ask one question – then how did Pahalgam terror attack happen? How did Delhi blast happen?”
Mr Shah asserted that the BJP would drive out illegal immigrants once it comes to power in the State after next year’s Assembly election.
Raising questions on the role of the police and local administration in providing documents to illegal infiltrators, the Home Minister also added that the documents seized from illegal infiltrators who are being caught across the country are from West Bengal.
Mr Shah tried to reassure the representatives of the Matua community that they do not have to fear and added BJP would ensure protection for all religiously persecuted refugees in India .“It is our pledge that all religiously persecuted refugees will be accommodated in the country. Even Mamata Banerjee cannot cause harm to the Matuas,” the Home Minister said.
Asked about the construction of temples in the State and calls to construct Babri Masjid, the Home Minister said it was the Trinamool Congress which was constructing temples and a suspended MLA from Trinamool constructing the mosque. “The people of Bengal are smart enough to decide if the ‘Babri’ construction during the election time is right. There are several other issues like unemployment, corruption, women’s safety, and bad infrastructure. They (TMC) won’t be able to escape,” he added.
Targeting the Trinamool Congress on several counts, including corruption, flight of capital and attacks on women, Mr Shah said in the 2026 Assembly polls, the BJP would form the government in West Bengal with a two-thirds majority.
“At one time, Bengal ranked third in GDP; today it has fallen to 22nd place. Before Left and Trinamool rule, the people of Bengal earned more than the national average income. Today, that figure has fallen to ₹73,” the Home Minister said.
Ms Mamata Banerjee responded to the charges made by the Home Minister and said it was the responsibility of the BSF to stop infiltration. “I have given enough land, but work on those areas where land has been allocated has not been completed yet,” she said. Ms Banerjee also ridiculed the claims by the Home Minister that the BJP would win a two-thirds majority in West Bengal.
“Earlier, they had said they would cross 200 seats. Now they are trying SIR,” the Chief Minister said. About 58 to 60 people have died during the process, Ms Banerjee said, adding that in every district memorial would be set up for those who died during the ongoing SIR.
Ms Banerjee hit back, invoking figures from the epic Mahabharat to mount a sharp counterattack on the BJP leadership. She likened BJP leaders to Duryodhana and Dushasana, rejecting Shah’s allegations on border fencing and governance.
Banerjee pointed to her government’s role in facilitating border infrastructure, asserting that the Trinamool Congress administration had provided land for fencing projects in Petrapol and Andal.
Addressing a public meeting, the chief minister said, “Remember the situation 14 years ago, people were scared. A lot of development work was done for Bankura, and much was done to overcome the water crisis. The elections have arrived, and people are being harassed in the name of SIR.
“Dushasana, a disciple of Shakuni, has come to Bengal to gather information. As soon as the elections come, Dushasana and Duryodhana start appearing. Today, they (the BJP) are saying that Mamata Banerjee didn’t give land. Who gave the land in Petrapole and Andal?,” she said.
“They say that infiltrators only enter from Bengal. If that’s the case, did you carry out the attack in Pahalgam? Who was behind the incident that happened in Delhi?”
Senior Trinamool Congress leader and state education minister Bratya Basu dismissed Amit Shah’s remarks as baseless, asserting that the BJP would fail to make any electoral impact in the state.
“Shah will keep coming and going like a tourist. Such visits will serve no purpose,” Basu said on the sidelines of a programme. He further claimed that “the BJP will not even cross the 50-mark in the assembly polls and suffer a humiliating defeat.”