Himanta Biswa Sarma gives 'proof' of success, compares his govt with TMC in north districts
Telegraph | 17 April 2026
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday stepped up the BJP's campaign in north Bengal, raising issues of alleged infiltration, border security, welfare schemes and governance, while drawing comparisons with his state.
Addressing public meetings in Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Darjeeling districts, Sarma focused on cross-border infiltration, welfare delivery and development claims in Assam.
“Bengal has become a haven for Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators. In Assam and Tripura, we drive them out, but here Mamata Banerjee allows them to enter and settle,” he said during a public meeting at Falimari in Cooch Behar, adding that a future BJP government in Bengal would take strict action to “drive away the infiltrators.”
He also accused the Trinamool government of pursuing “appeasement politics” and claimed that illegal migration had altered the demographic profile of border districts.
“Long stretches of the India-Bangladesh border in Bengal remain porous, enabling cattle smuggling and cross-border movement. We aim to install energised fencing to prevent infiltration,” he said.
He also cited Assam’s eviction drives, claiming that around 1.5 lakh acres of land had been cleared of infiltrators who had settled there.
Highlighting Assam’s tea sector, Sarma contrasted welfare measures for tea workers in Assam with those in Bengal.
He said Assam has increased daily wages for tea garden workers and provided additional support, including food grain assistance, land rights, schools in tea estates and job reservations.
“There is a high school in every tea estate in Assam, and we have reserved three per cent of state government jobs for tea garden communities,” he said.
Sarma added that if the BJP returns to power in Assam for a third term, the daily wages of tea workers would be further increased from ₹450 to ₹500.
Referring to the Mukhyamantri Nijut Moina scheme in his state, Sarma said the Assam government provides monthly financial assistance of ₹2,000 for male students and ₹2,500 for female students in higher education.
“We are a smaller state than Bengal, yet we have introduced such schemes. Does the Bengal government have any similar monthly assistance for students?” he asked.
He also compared dearness allowance (DA) for government employees in both states, claiming Assam provides 50 per cent higher DA than Bengal and has also brought employees under the ambit of the seventh pay commission.
“The Prime Minister has said assured steps would be taken to improve benefits for state government employees in Bengal once the BJP forms the government here,” he said.
Political observers noted that Sarma’s remarks were aimed at projecting BJP-ruled Assam as a model of welfare and development, particularly among tea garden workers and border populations in north Bengal.
They also suggested that comparisons between Assam and Bengal’s welfare policies are part of the BJP’s broader electoral strategy to influence voter sentiment in the region.
Additional reporting by our Alipurduar and Cooch Behar correspondents