West Bengal victory will plug national security hole: Amit Shah

KOLKATA: Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday framed BJP's sweeping victory in West Bengal not merely as a political win but as a decisive shift tied to national security as he addressed newly elected party MLAs.

"Friends, this victory is not merely about BJP's expansion or ideology. Nor is it about forming a BJP-NDA govt in the 21st state. The biggest importance of this victory is that it plugs one of the biggest holes in India's national security. BJP promises people of Bengal that the country will identify and remove every infiltrator from India," Shah said at the meeting in Kolkata.

The home minister accused the vanquished TMC of "institutionalising political violence, encouraging the criminalisation of politics" and weakening the state's administrative machinery through its 15 years in govt. "In a BJP govt, neither will administration be politicised nor will politics be criminalised."

Shah then moved to highlight BJP's vast footprint. "From Gangotri to Gangasagar, there are now BJP govts. We began this journey in the 1950s with the ideology of Syama Prasad Mookerjee. In 2026, his own party is governing his homeland. We must seek his blessings," he said.

Quoting from Rabindranath Tagore's poem, 'Chitto Jetha Bhayshunyo' (Where the mind is without fear), Shah declared that the change of guard marks the beginning of an era where "the road to a fearless Bengal has widened". He exhorted BJP workers to fulfil the dream of "Sonar Bangla", saying their govt will dismantle Bengal's entrenched "syndicate raj, cut-money politics" and the dominance of local strongmen.

Underscoring the victory's magnitude, Shah pointed out that the new BJP MLAs had won by an average margin of 28,000 votes, with TMC drawing a blank in nine districts.

He struck a conciliatory note towards the end of his address, appealing to all political parties to abjure violence and ensure peace and democratic functioning in the state. "Wherever BJP has formed govts, we have ensured violence-free elections. It is now our responsibility to ensure Bengal, too, witnesses elections free from violence and rigging," Shah said.