Indian MP's comment on India-Bangladesh border fence sparks political row in West Bengal

A controversy has erupted in West Bengal after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Jagannath Sarkar said in a video that went viral on social media that there would be "no border fence with Bangladesh" if his party came to power.

Sarkar, a two-term BJP member of parliament from Ranaghat, made the remarks while addressing party workers in a village in the Krishnaganj block on October 30. In the video, he also said the two countries "were one (in the past) and in future (both the nations) will become one."

The constituency has a large number of Matuas, a sect of Dalit Hindus who migrated from Bangladesh, says The Hindu.

The comments drew swift criticism from the state's ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), which demanded action against the BJP MP.

TMC General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee accused the BJP of hypocrisy, contrasting Sarkar's statement with frequent assertions by senior BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, that the West Bengal government had failed to provide land for strengthening the border fence.

Banerjee said on social media that if the BJP leadership remained silent, it would indicate that Sarkar "spoke with the full consent of top leadership".

The controversy coincided with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in West Bengal, which the BJP has supported, alleging that the state's voter list is "full of 'infiltrators' from Bangladesh".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah have often described infiltration as one of India's biggest challenges. Banerjee questioned why the SIR was not conducted in other states bordering Bangladesh, such as Assam, Meghalaya, or Tripura, calling the exercise a "political operation aimed at deleting genuine voters" rather than identifying illegal immigrants.

The BJP has not yet issued a formal response to Sarkar's comments.