KOLKATA, Oct 27: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday accused the TMC government in West Bengal of aiding “state-sponsored infiltration” and corruption, claiming that incidents of assault on women in Sandeshkhali and the rape and murder of a doctor at RG Kar Hospital are evidence that women are “not safe” in the state.
He also said that the “next big target” for the BJP is winning the West Bengal assembly polls in 2026 with a two-third majority, asserting that this is the only way to address corruption and infiltration.
The visiting union minister mentioned the infiltration issue in his two programmes, including a government event, during the day.
“In Bengal, where Rabindra Sangeet (Tagore songs) used to be heard in the morning, sound of bombs is heard everywhere now. In Bengal, state-sponsored infiltration is going on. Corruption in job hiring, health sector and rations along with cut money and syndicates, is rampant.
“To get rid of these and build a Sonar Bangla (Developed Bengal) as envisioned by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the people of Bengal need to elect a BJP government in 2026,” he said after launching the party’s membership drive in West Bengal, setting a target of enrolling one crore members from the state.
The cut-money culture and corruption must end in West Bengal, he said while setting a target of “winning a two-thirds majority” in the 2026 assembly polls.
Shah pointed to incidents in Sandeshkhali and that in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where a woman doctor was raped and murdered in August, asserting that these exemplify the lack of security for women in West Bengal.
Ahead of this year’s Lok Sabha polls, allegations of sexual abuse against TMC leaders in Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district had surfaced and became one of the issues dominating the poll narratives.
“Women are not safe in Bengal. Incidents like Sandeshkhali and RG Kar will stop when BJP comes to power in 2026,” he said.
Shah urged party members not to underestimate their influence in the state, stating, “Mamata didi (CM Mamata Banerjee) must not be very happy that we got fewer seats in the Lok Sabha in Bengal. She should not think we are sitting idle as we got a few seats less (than our target).”
The BJP, which had set a target of winning over 30 of the total 42 Lok Sabha seats from Bengal in 2024, secured only 12, six less than what it bagged in 2019.
“Don’t forget, we are a party that has gone from two seats to 370 seats and has taken steps like the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. Of the state elections held in 2024, we have won more than 50 per cent. We have won in Haryana and we will win in Jharkhand and Maharashtra,” he said.
“After that, our next big target in 2026 is winning in Bengal and forming the next government with a two-thirds majority,” the BJP leader added. (PTI)
