Amit Shah vows crackdown on infiltrators, confident of BJP’s win in West Bengal

The Union home minister said the BJP will launch its anti-infiltration campaign from the Seemanchal region of Bihar in a few days.

Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday expressed confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would win the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections and reiterated that the NDA government would “drive out every infiltrator” from the country, beginning from Bihar’s Seemanchal region.

Union home minister Amit Shah addresses a gathering in Bihar’s Araria on Thursday. (X)

“Elections are round the corner in West Bengal and I am confident that the BJP is going to win and after the formation of the government our government shall drive out every infiltrator from West Bengal,” he said.

Shah made the remarks on the second day of his three-day visit to Bihar while addressing a function of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) at the Leti SSB camp under Sikti block in Araria district along the Indo-Nepal border. He inaugurated a new SSB outpost and launched several projects at the camp.

Reminding people of the promises made during the Bihar assembly elections, he added, “I am here to remind you of my promises during electioneering and our [central] government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to drive out every infiltrator from this country. This is going to be launched from Seemanchal within a few days.”

“Often it is the people who remind the promises made to them by the leaders during elections but I am here to remind you of my promises,” he said.

During the Bihar assembly election rallies late last year, BJP leaders, including PM Modi and Shah, had strongly raised the issue of infiltration and promised that if voted to power in Bihar, the government would expel every infiltrator. The issue returned to the centre of Bihar politics during the 2025 state poll campaign after nearly three decades.

Shah has revived the issue again with the West Bengal elections approaching. “He wants to send his message in West Bengal to assist polarisation of votes in elections,” a Rashtriya Janata Dal leader alleged, claiming, “BJP wants to win West Bengal by hook or by crook.”

After the inaugural ceremony, which lasted about half an hour, Shah interacted with SSB officials and urged them to remain more vigilant. He shared the government’s concerns regarding infiltration, human trafficking, cattle smuggling and fake currency rackets.

“Shah’s visit to Seemanchal is politically and strategically significant as West Bengal goes to poll in coming days and besides a new government has assumed charge in Bangladesh,” political observer professor Naresh Kumar Srivastava said, adding, “Infiltration has been a big problem in Seemanchal lying in close proximity to the Indo-Bangladesh border.”

There is speculation that the visit could expedite security measures in the strategically vital ‘Chicken’s Neck’ corridor — a 22-km-wide and 60-km-long stretch in West Bengal that connects eight northeastern states to the rest of India. “It is highly sensitive and vulnerable as it is situated between Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh,” a senior police officer said.