Shah unveils infiltration as key 2026 assembly poll plank
Times of India | 28 October 2024
Kolkata: Peace can be established in Bengal only when infiltration stops, said Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday, adding that BJP had set itself a target of winning the 2026 Bengal assembly polls with a two-thirds majority. Urging voters to give BJP a chance, Shah said that infiltration and corruption would be rooted out from the state when the saffron party forms govt in Bengal.
“Bengal is witnessing state-sponsored infiltration. To stop this, you have to vote BJP to power. Rabindrasangeet has been replaced by bomb blasts here. Only BJP can put an end to cattle smuggling, coal smuggling, corruption and syndicate raj,” he said.
Present at the inauguration of BJP’s membership drive at the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre (EZCC), Shah said, “2026 will be a milestone in the assembly polls of Bengal. BJP will win the election with two-thirds majority.” Referring to BJP’s dismal performance in the state in recent elections, he added: “Mamata didi is happy seeing a lower seat tally for BJP. She thinks that BJP has slackened pace in Bengal. Her happiness is not going to last long.”
Earlier, opening a new passenger terminal at Petrapole, Shah said that people in Bengal were not getting benefits of central schemes. “If voted to power, BJP will roll out all central schemes in Bengal. Aap ke achche din dur nahin (good days are not far off),” he said. He added that if voted to power, MGNREGA workers would get their pay.
Giving his party colleagues a target of enrolling 1 crore members in the next 20 days, Shah said in Kolkata: “We do not aim to make bhaipo a CM. When we enter the political arena with renewed vigour, BJP can’t be stopped. Workers have been our strength, and BJP swept the polls in MP, Rajasthan and Odisha. Our govt was formed in Haryana for the third term, and I can assure BJP govt in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. Our next big target is Bengal.”
Shah added: “Modiji officially recognised Bangla as one of the classical languages of India, fulfilling the dream of cultural icons such as Jaidev, Mahakavi Chandidas, Rabindranath Tagore, Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay, and Saratchandra Chattopadhyay. Mamata Banerjee did not even express gratitude to him for granting Bangla classical language status.”
Referring to the RG Kar rape-murder, the home minister said: “Women are being tortured across Bengal. Whether it is Sandeshkhali or RG Kar, women are not safe here. You have to vote BJP to power to put an end to this. We will bring Sonar Bangla under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi.”
Critical of the INDIA bloc, Shah said that despite claims by “Rahul Baba & Co”, BJP bagged 240 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.