Amit Shah says infiltration and cattle smuggling will be curbed under BJP government in Bengal

PTI, May 8, 2026, Kolkata: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said infiltration and cattle smuggling would become "impossible" in West Bengal under the BJP government, as he formally announced Suvendu Adhikari as the leader of the BJP legislature party and the party's chief ministerial face.

Addressing BJP MLAs and senior leaders at a charged legislature party meeting here, Shah described the party's emphatic victory in West Bengal as far more than an electoral milestone, portraying it as a decisive political shift tied to national security, democratic restoration and the ideological culmination of a journey that began with Syama Prasad Mookerjee in the early Fifties.

"Friends, this victory is not merely about BJP's expansion or its ideology. Nor is it only about BJP-NDA forming a government in its 21st state. The biggest importance of this victory is that it plugs one of the biggest holes in India's national security. Now infiltration and cow smuggling will become impossible in West Bengal," Shah asserted.

"The BJP promises the people of Bengal and the country that we will identify and remove every infiltrator from India. And let me say from this stage -- people who call this polarisation are mistaken. This is not about polarisation. This is about national security," he said.

The BJP's victory in West Bengal marks the end of the Trinamool Congress's 15-year rule and brings the saffron party to power in a state long considered a politically challenging terrain.

Invoking symbolism deeply rooted in Bengal's political and cultural history, Shah said the BJP government now stretched "from Gangotri to Gangasagar" and linked the victory to the ideological legacy of Jana Sangh founder Mookerjee.

"The ideological journey that began in 1950 under the leadership of Syama Prasad Mookerjee has, in 2026, finally brought his party to power in his own birthplace. This is deeply significant," he said.

He also referred to the 150th year of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's 'Vande Mataram', saying the BJP forming government on the novelist's land was "a huge sign".

Launching a broadside against the outgoing TMC regime, Shah alleged that Mamata Banerjee's tenure had witnessed the "politicisation of administration" and "criminalisation of politics", while violence, syndicates, corruption and "cut money" had become entrenched.

"Under Mamata ji's 15 years of rule, administration became thoroughly politicised, and politics became criminalised. Criminals themselves became politicians. There was no possibility of good governance," he claimed.

"Goondaism, violence, syndicates, corruption and cut money -- all these have become a curse on Bengal. Within months of our new CM taking charge, all this will end," Shah said.

Promising a "double-engine government", Shah said Bengal's development had been stalled because central schemes and funds were blocked for political reasons.

"For years, the Centre wanted Bengal's development, but funds and schemes were blocked because of fear that Modi ji would become more popular. Today, after a long time, the lotus blooms both at the Centre and in the state. Now no one can stop Bengal's development," he said.

The home minister also attempted to project the BJP's Bengal victory as a mandate for democratic normalcy after decades of politically linked violence.

"I appeal to all political parties -- elections are a celebration of democracy. Why should violence occur in them? Violence must end across India, and BJP has a special responsibility in this regard," he said.

"Let us take a resolve and appeal to all parties that there should be no violence in polls. It will be BJP government's responsibility that there should not be a single incident of violence or malpractices in elections," Shah added.

Recalling repeated allegations by the opposition over electoral manipulation, Shah attacked the Congress and Rahul Gandhi over their criticism of EVMs and voter lists.

"Rahul Gandhi ji talks about EVMs, voter theft, voter lists and SIR only to hide his defeats," he said.

He also sought to showcase the BJP's social outreach by citing newly elected women legislators, including Rachna Debnath from Panihati, Rekha Patra from Sandeshkhali and Kavita Manjhi.

Shah also framed the Bengal mandate as part of a larger political consolidation of eastern India under the BJP, saying the region had rejected parties that kept it deprived of growth and investment for decades.