Salboni (WB): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday alleged that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was shielding “infiltrators”, promoting dynastic politics and backing attempts to raise a “Babri Masjid-modelled mosque” in West Bengal, which the BJP would not allow.
Addressing a rally at Salboni in Paschim Medinipur ahead of the first phase of the West Bengal assembly polls, Shah sought to turn the contest into a direct ideological battle between the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress.
He declared that the election was not merely about choosing a government but about “freeing Bengal from infiltrators, corruption and fear”.
“Mamata Didi wants to protect infiltrators. But I am telling you, press the button on EVM beside the lotus (BJP’s poll symbol) on April 23 and a BJP government will drive out every infiltrator from Bengal,” he said.
The Union home minister also intensified his attack on what the BJP terms “bhaipo culture” in Bengal politics, targeting Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, without naming him.
“Mamata ji wants to make her nephew the chief minister of Bengal. She is misleading people by claiming that if the BJP wins, an outsider will become chief minister.
“I assure you that the next chief minister of Bengal will be from the BJP, born and brought up in Bengal, and he will speak Bengali,” Shah said. “Certainly, he will not be bhaipo. He will be a BJP worker.”
In one of his sharpest attacks on the TMC during the ongoing campaign, Shah invoked the Ram temple-Babri Masjid dispute and referred to suspended TMC MLA and AJUP founder Humayun Kabir, who proposed building a Babri-like mosque in the Beldanga area of Murshidabad district.
“Modi ji built the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. For 550 years, these people did not allow the Ram Temple to be built. At the place where the Babri Masjid stood, a Ram Temple has now been built,” Shah said as the crowd raised the chant of ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
He alleged that Mamata Banerjee, through Humayun Kabir, wanted to build a “Babri Masjid” in Bengal.
“Mamata Didi wants her associate Humayun Kabir to build a Babri Masjid in Bengal. Didi, listen carefully. Bengal is in India. We will never allow a Babri Masjid to be built in Bengal,” Shah said.
He also promised that the BJP, if voted to power in Bengal, would implement a Uniform Civil Code in the state.
“We will bring the Uniform Civil Code in Bengal. Some people marry four times. Should that stop or not? No one will be able to marry four times,” he said.
The BJP has been aggressively pushing the UCC plank in several poll-bound states, presenting it as a measure for gender justice and equality, while opposition parties have accused it of targeting minorities.
Seeking to make women’s safety another key poll issue, Shah cited incidents such as Sandeshkhali, RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Durgapur Medical College and the alleged rape at a south Kolkata law college to accuse the TMC government of failing to protect women.
“Mamata Didi says that after 7 pm, mothers and sisters should not step out of their homes. But I assure the mothers and sisters of Bengal that after May 5, a BJP government will be formed here under Modi ji’s leadership. Then, if a girl goes out on a scooter even at 1 am, no thug will dare raise his eyes at her,” he said.
“Whether it is Sandeshkhali, R G Kar, Durgapur Medical College or the south Kolkata law college incident, we will identify every accused involved in atrocities against women and put them behind bars,” Shah added.
He also accused Banerjee of opposing bills for the implementation of women’s quota in legislatures from 2029. “Modi ji brought a bill to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and assemblies. But Mamata Didi worked to defeat it,” Shah claimed.
Attempting to strike an emotional chord with the people of Paschim Medinipur, Shah invoked freedom fighter Khudiram Bose, who hailed from the district.
“Khudiram Bose, the great son of West Medinipur and the youngest martyr of the country, is described as a terrorist in the Bengal government’s books. Should such a government continue?” he asked the gathering.
He also attacked the TMC government over alleged corruption and illegal sand mining in the region.
“Sand is being stolen from the rivers of Salboni. Form a BJP government, and we will not allow even a single pebble to be stolen,” Shah told the people at the rally.
