Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Nabin has launched a blistering attack on the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government in West Bengal ahead of assembly polls slated later this year.
Nabin has accused it of endangering national security by patronising infiltration and intimidating voters during the Special Intensive Exercise (SIR) to malign the Election Commission of India.
Nabin, stepping up its pre-poll offensive ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections, addressed a BJP workers' meeting in Durgapur on Wednesday, marking his first visit to the state after assuming the party's top post earlier this month.
‘Deliberate attempt’ to alter Bengal's demography
Nabin alleged a ‘deliberate attempt’ is being made by the ruling party to alter Bengal's demography and "turn the state into Bangladesh", warning that the issue posed a grave threat not only to West Bengal, but to the country as a whole.
"The TMC government has been patronising infiltration and protecting illegal voters, while intimidating genuine citizens. The TMC is endangering national security," he alleged.
The BJP President also targeted the Mamata Banerjee government over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged that the ruling party was spreading misinformation and fear to derail a constitutionally mandated exercise.
"While the Election Commission (EC) is determined to identify and remove infiltrators and fake voters, the TMC government is creating panic among common people and trying to discredit the poll panel," he said.
"People of Bengal should know that the EC is not harassing anyone. It is acting against those who have entered illegally and those whose names do not belong on the voters' list," he added.
Nabin alleged that the state administration was being misused to undermine the SIR process.
"It is not the EC, but the state machinery - DMs, SDOs and BDOs acting as puppets of the TMC government- that is intimidating citizens to malign a constitutional authority," he claimed.
Nabin invoked Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, asserting that Bengal existed in its present form because of his resistance to attempts to merge it with East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
"Bengal was saved because Mukherjee stood firm against those forces. Similar forces are active even today," he said.
"Those who are not children of Bengal's soil cannot claim rights here. BJP workers are ready to make any sacrifice, but we will not allow Bengal to be merged with Bangladesh. TMC is trying to turn Bengal into Bangladesh".
Linking infiltration to the political battle ahead, Nabin accused Banerjee of "crying foul in Delhi" while presiding over misrule at home.
"Banerjee is questioning constitutional institutions in Delhi, but here in Bengal she has destroyed governance," he alleged.
"This is a maha jungle raj where corruption has replaced administration and fear has replaced democracy."
Nabin said Durgapur in Paschim Bardhaman district symbolised the state's decline under the TMC. "This city once attracted workers and students from Bihar and Jharkhand. Today, its industrial identity is fading," he said.
"Mamata Banerjee promised industrialisation during the Singur movement. Fifteen years later, no new industries have come up. Old factories are shutting down, and the youth of Bengal are being forced to migrate outside the state in search of jobs," he added, calling Singur a symbol of "broken promises and lost opportunities".
Before addressing the rally, the BJP president launched the party's 'Digital Warrior' campaign aimed at strengthening digital outreach and engagement with Bengalis living across the state, other parts of the country and abroad.
Casting the 294-member Assembly polls as a straight contest between the TMC's "jungle raj" and the BJP's governance model, Nabin said only a "double-engine government" under Prime Minister Narendra Modi could restore order, revive development and secure Bengal's borders.
"Modi is committed to a Viksit Bharat. But a developed India is impossible without a developed Bengal," he said.
"Mamata Banerjee's countdown has begun. Raise your voice so loudly that it reaches Delhi," he asserted.
Key Takeaways
- The BJP is intensifying its campaign against the TMC by framing it as a national security threat.
- Concerns about demographic changes in West Bengal are central to the BJP's electoral strategy.
- Nabin's remarks reflect a broader narrative of governance failure attributed to the TMC.
