New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) Shiv Sena (UBT) MP, Priyanka Chaturvedi, on Monday criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah for his recent remarks alleging unchecked infiltration in West Bengal, questioning the BJP’s narrative on “ghuspaithiyas (illegal immigrants)".

Speaking to IANS, Chaturvedi said, “Someone should remind Amit Shah that the central government has been led by the Bharatiya Janata Party since 2014. And if you look at the numbers, the deportations of Bangladeshi nationals were higher during the UPA’s tenure and lower during the NDA’s tenure.”

“The truth is that, under the name of 'ghuspaithiya,' the BJP tries to gain political advantage. They believe that through the illegal immigrants agenda, they can create sensationalism. This is the Home Minister’s responsibility to ensure boundaries; no one should enter the country illegally,” she added.

Her comments come in the backdrop of a political “chargesheet” launched by HM Shah in Kolkata, where he alleged that West Bengal had become a “heaven for ghuspaithiyas” under the ruling Trinamool Congress. Shah accused the Trinamool of facilitating infiltration for “votebank politics” and promised that the BJP would “pick and remove every single illegal immigrant from voter lists ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.

Meanwhile, the Opposition also weighed in on the issue. Ashutosh Verma, spokesperson of the Samajwadi Party, said, “The way the Bharatiya Janata Party is eager to win the Bengal elections, they are ready to use all tactics — coercion, inducement, punishment, gifts — everything. But they forget that in a democracy, the real power lies with the people.”

With the Assembly polls approaching, debates over illegal immigrants and voter lists are likely to dominate political discourse in the state over the coming weeks.

The unfolding narrative underscores the tense political atmosphere in West Bengal, where parties are increasingly using national security and migration rhetoric to appeal to voters, even as Opposition leaders warn against sensationalism and politicisation of the issue.

--IANS

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