Infiltration has to be stopped: Suvendu Adhikari
Before Adhikari’s remarks, senior BJP leader and Indian Home Minister Amit Shah also stressed the issue, saying, “Once the party forms government in Bengal, infiltration and cow smuggling will be impossible.”
Chief minister-designate Suvendu Adhikari on Friday (8 May) said infiltration has to be stopped, placing the Bangladesh border issue at the centre of the party's agenda following its electoral victory in the state.
In his first speech as chief minister-designate at the BJP legislature party meeting in Kolkata, Adhikari flagged alleged infiltration from Bangladesh as a key issue for the incoming government.
"Infiltration has to be stopped," he said, while also pledging that the BJP government would fulfil all commitments made in its election manifesto.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Adhikari is prepared to take oath as West Bengal's first BJP chief minister tomorrow (9 May) at Brigade Parade Ground in central Kolkata.
Before Adhikari's remarks, senior BJP leader and Indian Home Minister Amit Shah also stressed the issue, saying, "Once the party forms government in Bengal, infiltration and cow smuggling will be impossible."
Alleged infiltration from Bangladesh remained one of the BJP's key campaign themes during the West Bengal assembly election. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah and Adhikari repeatedly accused the outgoing Trinamool Congress government led by Mamata Banerjee of facilitating infiltration and failing to curb cross-border smuggling.
Referring to Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Shah said the BJP's victory in Bengal fulfilled a decades-long political aspiration.
"Since 1950, we've embarked on this journey under the leadership of Syama Prasad Mookerjee. Today, in his own birthplace, in 2026, Syama Prasad Mookerjee's government is being formed," he said.
Shah also referred to the BJP government's repeal of Article 370 in 2019, which revoked the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir, saying party workers had long hoped to see the BJP's flag raised in Bengal as well.
The BJP swept the West Bengal assembly polls, ending 15 years of Trinamool Congress rule and paving the way for Adhikari to become the state's first BJP chief minister.
