4 min readKolkataApr 11, 2026 09:52 AM IST
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Friday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over its manifesto for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections, questioning the party’s stance on Bangladeshi infiltrators.
Addressing a press conference in Kolkata, Abhishek also asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah to clarify whether former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been given shelter by the BJP-led Centre, should be termed an infiltrator.
“Why did they give shelter to Sheikh Hasina? Is she an infiltrator or got asylum. To safeguard which industrialist, did BJP give shelter to Hasina?,” he asked.
The TMC leader criticised the BJP for its response to atrocities on monks in Bangladesh and the attack on Chinmay Prabhu. “When atrocities were happening on monks in Bangladesh, where was the Modi government? When Chinmay Prabhu was attacked, what did the Modi government do?,” he asked.
Taking a sharp aim at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Abhishek said the BJP leader was “rehearsing the same cassette” over and over again about ‘ghuspetiyas’ (infiltrators). He criticised the BJP’s handling of the Pahalgam terror attack and Delhi car blast last year. “If you are in power to safeguard the borders, then why did such an attack happen in Pahalgam? How come a blast happened in Delhi?,” Abhishek questioned.
The TMC MP from Diamond Harbour lambasted the BJP’s promise to pay Rs 3,000 per month to women and unemployed youth, terming it a “new jumla” meant to fool the people of West Bengal. “They are basically trying to fool people of Bengal,” he said.
He pointed out that the prime minister had made a similar promise to women in Delhi, but it was not fulfilled. “The Prime Minister himself promised before the Delhi Assembly election last year that the BJP government will give Rs 2,500 to every woman of Delhi before International Women’s Day which is on March 8. One year has gone by, a single woman of Delhi did not get 5 paisa,” he claimed.
He highlighted the Lakshmir Bhandar project of the Mamata Banerjee government, which provides Rs 1,500 per month to women, and asked if any other state could match this. “We are giving each and every woman Rs 1,500 rupees per month without questioning anything. Just show us a single state which is giving money to every woman. BJP can’t give pollution free air to the people, how will the BJP give money?”
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The BJP on Friday released the party’s ‘Sankalp Patra’ and promised to pay Rs 3,000 per month to women and unemployed youth countering the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government’s Lakshmir Bhandar and Yuba Sathi programme.
Banerjee claimed that the BJP is trying to control Bengal’s culture, food habits, and dress. He also cited the example of the Chief Minister of Assam, who had said that anyone speaking Bengali would be jailed.
Abhishek mentioned that the BJP said, “They will control Bengal from Delhi and Gujarat. What we have been saying for years, BJP today agreed that they will control Bengal with outsiders. If BJP comes to power, they will implement the United Civil Code within six months in Bengal. They will control Bengal’s food habits, culture and dress. They are already criticising the fish eating habits of Bengalis.”
“If someone speaks Bengali in a BJP ruled state, eats their favourite food, speaks Bengali at home, Chief Minister of Assam has openly said, they will go to jail. All those who have spoken anti-Bengali in the past, have been rewarded by the BJP,” Abhishek claimed.
