Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam, continued his attack on chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her party as he campaigned in north Bengal on Friday, alleging that the Trinamool Congress government was formed with the support of Bangladeshi infiltrators.
Since the BJP leader from the neighbouring state launched his campaign in Bengal on Thursday, he has been harping on the issue of infiltration, which is considered a planned strategy of the saffron ecosystem to polarise votes.
Earlier on Friday, he attended a road show in support of the BJP candidate from Hemtabad in North Dinajpur.
“People of Bengal do not want infiltrators to enter from Bangladesh and settle here. But Mamata Banerjee wants them because her government is formed with the votes of infiltrators. On one hand, she encourages them to enter Bengal and settle, on the other hand, she doesn’t provide land for the installation of fences along the India Bangladesh border,” said Himanta, while speaking at a public meeting in Baishnabnagar, Malda.
There are 12 seats in Malda, a district with over 50 per cent Muslim population — the highest in any north Bengal district. The BJP had won four seats in 2021 while the Trinamool had bagged the remaining eight.
“There is a BJP government in Assam and Tripura, and we drive away the Bangladeshi infiltrators. But these people then enter India through Bengal. Once our party forms the government here, we will stop infiltration,” Himanta added.
He also countered Trinamool over the “fish and mutton” narrative. Trinamool leaders, including Mamata and the party’s national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, have warned during their campaign that if the BJP comes to power, it would stop people from having fish, chicken and mutton.
“In Assam, the BJP has been in power for 10 years, and we relish having both fish and mutton. I would invite Mamataji and Trinamool leaders to come to Assam and enjoy the food. This time, they are under immense political pressure and thus making such false remarks,” said Himanta.
He also compared the recruitments made in the state government departments of both states.
“Assam is a smaller state than Bengal, and yet, in the past five years, we have provided two lakh jobs in the state government. Not a single case has been filed in court in connection with the recruitment and people are working happily. But in Bengal, the Trinamool government recruited 26,000 teachers in an illegal and corrupt manner and eventually, these people lost their jobs as per the court’s orders,” Himanta said.
Additional reporting by Soumya De Sarkar in Malda