Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition, played the BJP’s usual religious polarisation card at a public meeting ahead of a road show at Belakoba, an area under the Rajganj Assembly constituency, in Jalpaiguri, on Friday.

Adhikari’s move aims to emphasise the religious divide in Rajganj, which shares a border with Bangladesh, to consolidate support.

“The demography of these areas has changed as infiltrators have come from Bangladesh. Let me make it clear that all those who are Hindus and have come as refugees from the neighbouring country will be provided with citizenship. But the other infiltrators, they would be detected and deported,” he said, while speaking in support of Dinesh Sarkar, the BJP candidate from the seat.

The Trinamool Congress, which has won the Rajganj seat four times so far, has fielded gold-medallist heptathlete Swapna Barman as the candidate.

Adhikari also referred to Hindu festivals to stoke religious sentiments.

“Once BJP comes to power in Bengal, you will not have to go to Calcutta High Court to obtain permission for the Durga Puja...there will be no hurdles in Ram Navami celebrations. The chief minister and her party leaders have made derogatory remarks, whether it is about the Maha Kumbha or about our religion,” he said.

The BJP leader highlighted some of the promises in the party’s election manifesto, which was published in Calcutta on Friday.

“The monthly assistance provided to women, senior citizens and others would be doubled…we will also improve the health infrastructure of north Bengal. Trinamool didn’t give land for AIIMS in north Bengal but had built high-end accommodations for her (Mamata Banerjee) in different areas of north Bengal,” said Adhikari.

Later in the evening, he led a rally in support of Sikha Chatterjee, the sitting MLA and BJP candidate of Dabgram-Fulbari Assembly seat, on the outskirts of Siliguri.