KOLKATA: The era of “appeasement politics” in Bengal is over as BJP primes itself to form the next government in 2026 with the supportThe era of “appeasement politics” in Bengal is over as BJP primes itself to form the next government in 2026 with the support of its core Hindu constituency and women voters moving away from CM Mamata Banerjee’s party, home minister Amit Shah said Sunday while echoing a sentiment ignited by PM Narendra Modi in north Bengal last week.“Bengal’s women won’t tolerate any insult to sindoor,” Shah declared at Kolkata’s Netaji Indoor Stadium.He said CM Mamata taking potshots at PM Modi amid India’s Operation Sindoor targeting terrorist sites in Pakistan indicated whose side she was on. “It would have been better if she were pained by Bengalis getting killed (in violence within Bengal). She didn’t utter a word then.”Shah alleged that the recent violence in Murshidabad linked to anti-waqf law protests was a “state-sponsored” riot. “The state government did not seek help from BSF despite repeated alerts from us. Finally, BSF intervened after the high court’s order. Trinamool netas were accusing BSF and encouraging the rioters…The CM opposed the waqf amendments. Who was she trying to protect?” The home minister said the next elections in Bengal were not only about Bengal’s future, but also national security.“Mamata Banerjee has opened the nation’s borders to Bangladeshis. She is allowing infiltration. We asked her for land to fence the gaps. She isn’t providing it so that infiltration continues, her vote bank keeps growing, and her nephew becomes the CM. But this is not going to happen,” he said.Shah said it was painful to see Bengal plumb the depths, first under Left Front’s governance, and now TMC.“For years, Bengal led India in every field. But then came the communists, and after that, Mamata Didi took charge with the slogan of ‘Maa, Mati, Manush’. She has since turned this great land into the hub of infiltration, corruption, atrocities on women, bomb blasts and injustice against Hindus,” he said.“During elections and even after Didi’s victory, hundreds of BJP workers were brutally killed. Didi, how long will you hide them? Mark my words — your time is over.” Shah said under UPA, Bengal received Rs 2.09 lakh crore, whereas under Modi, it received Rs 8.27 lakh crore in 10 years. But the money was “looted by the TMC syndicate”, he said.“Even if Modiji sends Rs 50 lakh crore, it won’t reach the people unless BJP is in government here. To get Modiji’s benefits and homes, you must bring a BJP government in Bengal,” Shah told the crowd.He later inaugurated a Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Rajarhat.
