West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026: Mamata blames BJP for Ram Navami violence, Shah alleges TMC’s support to infiltration a national security threat

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of orchestrating communal violence during the Ram Navami celebration in Murshidabad in West Bengal, even as Home Minister Amit Shah alleged that the Trinamool Congress government’s policy of appeasing a particular community and facilitating illegal migration from Bangladesh endangered the national security of India.

Shah said that the BJP would surely win the assembly elections in West Bengal and, for the first time, the saffron party would be in power in “Anga”, “Banga”, and “Kalinga” (Bihar, Bengal and Odisha). Mamata, on the other hand, vowed to drive away the BJP from West Bengal first, and then to lead the TMC, along with other opposition parties, in ousting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party from power in the Centre.

A day after a heated exchange between two groups over the Ram Navami celebration escalated into violence at Raghunathganj in Murshidabad, normalcy was restored in the area with a large number of personnel of the police and the central paramilitary forces, including the Rapid Action Force, being deployed to enforce the prohibitory orders and maintain peace. The cops arrested over 30 people for pelting stones as well as for vandalising and setting ablaze roadside shops during the clash on Friday.

“The BJP has orchestrated violence during Ram Navami in Raghunathganj,” Mamata said, while addressing an election rally in Raniganj in West Bengal on Saturday.

“Bengal has always believed in unity in diversity. Bengal stands for inclusivity and togetherness. Bengal lives by the sacred philosophy of “Dharma Jar Jar, Utsav Sabar” (people may have different faiths, but festivals are for everyone). Bengal will never tolerate violence and hooliganism in the name of faith,” she said, alleging that the Election Commission had transferred efficient police and administrative officials of the state government from key positions so that the BJP could trigger violence and reap electoral dividends.

“They (the BJP) could not win hearts, so they are trying to win through fear, to create chaos. We will not allow anyone to poison the atmosphere. We will not allow hooliganism to disturb our unity.”

She hit out at the EC and the BJP in Raniganj even as Shah released the saffron party’s ‘charge-sheet’ against the TMC government in the state in Kolkata.

The Union Home Minister said that infiltration from across India’s border with Bangladesh through Assam had almost stopped since the BJP had come to power in the northeastern state.

“West Bengal is the only state through which infiltrators are still entering the country and creating disturbances across the nation. Infiltration through the areas near the India-Bangladesh border of the state is a matter concerning national security,” he alleged, reiterating the BJP’s allegation that the TMC were helping the illegal migrants settle in West Bengal and turning them into its vote bank, thus changing the demographic profile of the state.

“The elections in West Bengal are important not only for the state but for the security of the entire country. “It is the appeasement and vote-bank politics of the TMC government which is now posing a threat to the security of the Siliguri Corridor (the narrow link in North Bengal between the northeastern region and the country’s mainland).”

He accused the TMC government of delaying the transfer of land and stalling the works to erect fences along the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal.

The TMC, however, sought to turn the tables on the BJP-led government at the Centre. “The BJP rules at the Centre. It rules 15 states and most border states through which infiltration is happening. Amit Shah himself is the Union Home Minister. So what exactly has he been waiting for?" senior TMC leader and West Bengal Education minister Bratya Basu said.