Mamata govt hiding Centre’s figures on illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, alleges BJP leader
BJP alleges that Union home ministry has told Mamata Banerjee goverment that there are 1.5 illegal Bangladeshis in state but it has not taken any action
The Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government is deliberately hiding facts and figures, provided to it by the Centre, on Bangladeshi immigrants illegally entering and residing in the state, senior BJP leader Sidharth Nath Singh said on Sunday.
“The Union government has forwarded to the state government the details of about 1.5 lakh illegal Bangladeshi immigrants who are currently staying in West Bengal. But the state government is hiding the fact. I do not understand why they are doing so. The state government should understand that it is all about national security, since people staying in West Bengal illegally is nothing but a criminal offence,” he said.
Singh, who is also the Uttar Pradesh health minister, was in Kolkata on Sunday to attend a programme on Ayushman Bharat organized by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s doctor’s cell in Bengal.
His allegations come just a day ahead of Union home minister Rajnath Singh’s likely meeting with chief minister Banerjee at the state secretariat on October 1 to discuss issues pertaining to the India-Bangladesh borders. Apart from Banerjee, chief ministers of Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and Meghalaya, which also sharing borders with Bangladesh, will also be present at the meeting.
Of the total 4,096 km India-Bangladesh border, West Bengal has the maximum length at 2,217 km. Tripura comes second with 856 km, followed by Meghalaya at 443 km, Assam at 262 km and Mizoram at 180 km.
However, the ruling Trinamool Congress rubbished Singh’s allegations.
State food and supplies minister Jyotipriyo Mullick said the BJP was always making such baseless allegations to create communal divide and tension in the state to reap political benefits. “We do not give any importance to such allegations anymore,” he said.
Meanwhile, Singh also criticised the Bengal government for the latter’s reluctance in implementing the Ayushman Bharat scheme, the dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Ayushman Bharat scheme is doing very well in UP as well as in many other states. Despite signing a memorandum of understanding in this regard, Bengal government is reluctant in implementing the same here. Trinamool might be taking up the matter in a political way but they fail to understand that ultimately their reluctance will benefit us politically ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls,” Singh said.
He also criticized Bengal government for failing to control outbreak of dengue in different pockets of the state. “Bengal ministers should come and see how BJP-ruled states have been able to control dengue there by effectively implementing Swachh Bharat Mission. If the Bengal government desires to learn from us we are ready to teach them,” said Singh.
On the case of Uttar Pradesh policemen shooting dead an Apple executive in Lucknow, Singh said BJP condemns the incident. “Our stand is clear on this issue. The incident was murder and not an encounter and we do not approve of such things,” he said.
