Amit Shah accuses TMC of shielding infiltrators, says party will lose power

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday launched a blistering attack on the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government, accusing it of "providing shelter to infiltrators", institutionalising corruption and deliberately obstructing border security measures for electoral gains.

Addressing a BJP workers' meeting at Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas, Shah also asserted that the TMC government was "certain to go" in the upcoming assembly elections.

He said formation of a BJP government in West Bengal was crucial not just for the state, but for national security as well.

"The way infiltration is taking place in West Bengal, it has become a security issue for the entire country. Even after court orders, the TMC government is not giving land to the BSF for border fencing because infiltrators are its vote bank," Shah alleged.

 

He claimed that the administration and police in the state were not stopping illegal migrants, who were being sent across the country using fake documents.

Referring to the recent fire incident at a momo factory in Anandapur near Kolkata, Shah alleged it was "not an accident but the result of the corruption of the Mamata Banerjee government".

He questioned why the factory owners had not yet been arrested and wondered whether their "proximity" to the ruling party was the reason. "Has the administration completely ceased to exist in Bengal?" the home minister asked.

Shah also accused the TMC of threatening the Matua and Namasudra communities, assuring them that they had "nothing to fear" and that "no one can touch your votes".

Alleging that corruption had been institutionalised in the state, he challenged Banerjee to prove her seriousness about the menace by denying tickets to "tainted ministers" in the assembly polls. He also predicted that the BJP would secure over 50 per cent vote share and a massive majority.

Shah also accused the TMC of opposing a discussion on Vande Mataram in Parliament to appease infiltrators, and called upon voters to "uproot" the Trinamool Congress regime and establish a "government of patriots and nationalists" in Bengal.