Kolkata, Jul 12 (PTI) The BJP on Saturday claimed that an "alarming demographic shift" is taking place in West Bengal under "political patronage", and the number of voters has increased by more than 40 per cent in 46 assembly constituencies between 2011 and 2021.

The TMC, headed by Mamata Banerjee, came to power in the state in 2011.

"This is not a random trend but a well-planned and systematic transformation carried out under political patronage," the saffron party alleged in a post on X.

In 46 assembly constituencies, the voter population has increased by more than 40 per cent within just a decade. In seven of them, the increase is over 50 per cent, the party claimed.

"That means nearly half the current electorate is new. And we have not even considered the changes that happened after 2021 or before 2011," the post read.

Apart from these, there are 118 assembly constituencies where voter growth is between 30 and 40 per cent, it claimed.

"The dream of turning Bengal into an Islamic state, once crushed by forefathers like Shyama Prasad Mookerjee Ji and warriors like Gopal Patha, still lives on. And this time, Mamata is enabling it with her support," the party alleged.

Gopal Mukherjee, also known as Gopal Patha, saved Hindus from Muslim rioters during the Great Calcutta Killings in August 1946.

Among these 46 seats that allegedly witnessed over 40 per cent increase in the number of voters, 10 each are in Malda and South 24 Parganas districts, nine in Murshidabad and seven in Uttar Dinajpur, it said.

"This is not natural growth. This is demographic engineering. This is an invasion. And all of it is happening under Mamata’s watch," the party said.

The BJP claimed in the post that Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh, dared to speak about the Chicken’s Neck because he knows that the demography of that region is being changed.

The "Chicken's Neck", a narrow strip of land in West Bengal, connects the northeastern states to the rest of the country. The corridor is bordered by Nepal and Bangladesh to the west and east, respectively, with Bhutan at the northern end.

"Mamata knows these (people) are her voters. That is why she cries and shouts for them. That is why she fears voter list sanitisation. Because without Bangladeshi Muslim votes, she cannot even touch 30 per cent vote share," the BJP claimed in the post.

"Speaking Bangla does not mean being Bengali. If we do not raise our voices now, we will soon be outnumbered in our own homeland. Bengal is not just losing its culture. It is losing its identity, its land, and everything it once stood for," the party said.

The statement alluded to the TMC's recent allegation that Bengali-speaking people working in BJP-ruled states are arrested on suspicion of being Bangladeshis.

"We appeal to all Hindus. Set aside your party lines and stand for your state. This is no longer about the BJP or TMC or the Left. This is a civilizational battle," the saffron party said.

TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh earlier said the BJP is working on its divisive political agenda as they peddle the politics of hatred and split people along religious lines.

He had said the TMC talked about the BJP's ploy to enlist outsiders from the state as voters in West Bengal and flagged the issue with the Election Commission several times. PTI SUS NN

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.