Mamata says BSF helping infiltrators enter Bengal to destabilise state, BJP hits back at charges

State BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari had recently accused the TMC of deliberately hindering the acquisition of land by the central paramilitary force along India’s border with Bangladesh in the state for building outposts and other critical infrastructure

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the Border Security Force of facilitating infiltration of ‘goons’ from Bangladesh to destabilise the eastern state of India in accordance with a “blueprint” drawn out by the central government led by Bharatiya Janata Party.

Banerjee’s allegation against the BSF came just days after West Bengal BJP heavyweight and the leader of opposition in the state legislative assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, accused her government of deliberately hindering the acquisition of land by the central paramilitary force along India’s border with Bangladesh in the state for building outposts and other critical infrastructure and of coming in the way of bolstering security along the border. Sukanta Majumdar, a union minister and the state BJP president, too recently accused the TMC of turning the state into a “safe haven” for terrorists sneaking into India from Bangladesh.

The BJP has been accusing the ruling TMC in West Bengal of helping the illegal immigrants cross over from Bangladesh to India and settle down in the state.

“We have information that the BSF has been facilitating infiltrators to enter India through various border areas. This is a deliberate attempt to destabilise the state. There is a deep-rooted conspiracy involving the central government,” Banerjee said while chairing an administrative review meeting at the state secretariat in Kolkata on Thursday. The chief minister said that she could sense that the BSF was acting on a “blueprint of the Centre”. “Goons are entering India. I want peace on both sides of the border. We have a good relationship with neighbouring Bangladesh.”

Majumdar, the state BJP chief, dismissed the chief minister’s allegations against the BSF and the saffron party’s government as “baseless”.

“The chief minister has reached the height of delusion. Despite not providing land for border outposts, she blames the BSF and even her own administration's officials for infiltration. Her accusations are aimed at deflecting from her party's failures,” he posted on X.

Banerjee also accused the BSF of torturing women in the border areas of West Bengal.

She pointed out that guarding the border between India and Bangladesh was the responsibility of the BSF, which was under the Ministry of Home Affairs of the central government, and not of the state government.

Banerjee, however, asked the Director General of Police in West Bengal, Rajeev Kumar, to investigate where the illegal migrants were staying after crossing over from Bangladesh to India.