Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday announced a ₹250-crore drinking water supply project for drought-prone Purulia and Bankura during his campaign for the 2026 Assembly Elections.
Shah, speaking at a rally in Purulia’s Baghmundi, said that when the BJP came to power in Bengal, it would take up a project to supply purified drinking water for each household in Purulia, Bankura and its adjoining areas prone to drought.
“The Adivasi people of this region do not get adequate purified drinking water despite the Kanksabati and Subarnarekha rivers being located here. We will start a purified drinking water supply project at a cost of ₹250 crore once we come to power in Bengal,” Shah said.
Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram and parts of West Midnapore in south Bengal are together known as the Jangal Mahal region, primarily a tribal belt. This region is also drought-prone due to the low underground water level.
Shah’s announcement, sources said, assumed significance as chief minister Mamata Banerjee, during her every visit to this region, blames the Centre for inadequate funds to take up a water supply scheme.
In 2019, the Centre had taken up a Jal Jivan Mission project to supply purified drinking water to rural households. The Bengal government could complete the installation of pipes to supply water to nearly 90 lakh households out of 1.77 crore households in the state.
“The state government joined the scheme late due to some dispute over the contribution of beneficiaries. As a result, the state government could complete only half of the work before the five-year scheme ended in 2024. As the Centre stopped the release of funds after mid-2024, the state could not take the scheme forward due to scarcity of funds,” said a source.
During his rallies in Purulia’s Baghmundi and Bankura’s Onda, Shah also held the Trinamool Congress responsible for “increasing infiltration” in Bengal and claimed that if the BJP came to power, intruders would be selectively identified
and deported.
“These infiltrators are the vote bank of the Trinamool Congress. If we come to power in Bengal, we will detect the infiltrators and delete them from the electoral list and deport them from Bengal as well as the country. They are a threat to the nation’s internal security. The infiltrators are stealing legitimate rights like food and jobs of Indian nationals, “ said Shah in Baghmundi in Purulia.
Shah said India was not a “dharamshala” and the BJP had zero tolerance for
infiltration.
“During the SIR, the names of infiltrators from the electoral list were deleted, and Mamata Banerjee started feeling pain. Once we come to power in Bengal, we will expel the infiltrators from the state. Mamata didi, you wait and watch,” said Shah.
Describing the “deteriorating” law and order in Bengal, Shah said if the BJP came to power in the state, women would be able to roam around without fear even at midnight.
“Mamata Banerjee asked women after the RG Kar incident, in which a lady doctor was brutally tortured and killed, not to go out of their homes after 7pm. I can assure you that women can roam around freely even at midnight once the BJP comes to power here,” said Shah.
