'Will remove infiltrators from Bengal': Amit Shah vows as he targets 'nervous' CM Mamata Banerjee

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday vowed to remove infiltrators from West Bengal once BJP comes to power. In his first visit to South 24 Paraganas since the publication of post SIR-rolls on Saturday, Shah launched the 'Poriborton Yatra'.

He went to slam CM Mamata Banerjee's TMC government over what he described as years of unchecked infiltration under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's watch, signalling that border security and citizenship will anchor the BJP's final electoral push.

"Right now, only names are being deleted from voter rolls, and Mamata Didi is nervous. Once BJP forms the government, we will identify and remove every infiltrator from Bengal," Shah declared, addressing a gathering in the coastal belt abutting the Sundarbans and close to the porous Indo-Bangladesh frontier.

His remarks followed the Election Commission releasing post-SIR rolls which recorded 63.66 lakh deletions or 8.3 per cent of the electorate, reducing the voter base to just over 7.04 crore ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.

Reports say more than 60.06 lakh electors have also been placed in the "under adjudication" category, subject to scrutiny in the coming weeks.

For the BJP, which has built its Bengal pitch around citizenship and border security since 2019, the revised rolls have provided both validation and velocity.

"TMC has made Bengal a swarg (heaven) for infiltrators," Shah stated asserting that the border state's security had been compromised by "appeasement politics".

"Bengal is a bordering state. The TMC cannot ensure security because they allow infiltration. Only the BJP can provide security to a bordering state like Bengal," he said.

Shah also sought to reassure Hindu migrants from Bangladesh saying - "I want to assure Hindu refugees that not a single refugee will lose their citizenship," he said invoking the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) plank.

The SIR churn has been sharpest in the Matua belt across North 24 Parganas, Nadia and parts of north Bengal, where community leaders claim nearly 40 per cent of the community has been impacted either through deletions or by 'under adjudication', an assertion that, if validated, could reverberate across 40-50 Assembly seats where the Dalit Hindu refugee bloc anchors the BJP's core vote bank.

The 'Poriborton Yatra', Shah said, was not merely about a change of chief minister but about "freeing Bengal from infiltrators, corruption and syndicate raj".

"Change means securing our borders. Change means ending corruption in jobs. Change means safety for mothers and sisters. Change means rule of law," he said.

Shah also accused Banerjee of duplicity on religious issues.

"Mamata Banerjee is now busy inaugurating temples as she knows the Hindus are not happy with her. But she is allowing the building of Babri Masjid in Bengal. In a well-crafted conspiracy, she has ensured Humayun Kabir's exit from the party so that he can build the Babri Masjid. This is a nexus between Kabir and Mamata Didi," he alleged.

TMC MLA Kabir had in December last year laid the foundation stone for a mosque – modelled on Ayodhya's Babri Masjid – at Rejinagar in West Bengal's Murshidabad district. He was later expelled from the party.

(With PTI inputs)