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Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that only the voters can uproot the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) government by ensuring Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari’s victory in the election.
Addressing voters at south Kolkata’s Bhabanipur, chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s traditional assembly seat, Shah said, “I have toured all corners of Bengal. People everywhere want to say goodbye to Mamata Banerjee. I found a shortcut to that. People of Bhabanipur, our victory is in your hands. If you ensure victory in one seat, then change will come automatically.”
“I will stay in Bengal for 15 days during the elections,” Shah announced at the Hazra rally, barely 300 metres from the chief minister’s Kalighat residence.
“Suvendu Da came and said he wanted to contest Nandigram. I said go to Bhabanipur as well and defeat Mamata inside her home. Our victory is ensured if we win 170 seats (of Bengal’s 294), but it can be done if we win Bhabanipur. Mamata won the last election, but she was defeated by Suvendu Adhikari. This year, Mamata will lose all over Bengal as well as in Bhawanipore,” Shah said.
Adhikari, the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, is contesting both Bhabanipur and Nandigram in East Midnapore district, his seat since 2016.
TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh challenged Shah to stay in Bengal for just one day after the poll results are announced on May 4.
Following the BJP rally, Shah accompanied candidates—Adhikari, Rashbehari candidate Swapan Dasgupta, Ballygunge seat nominee Shatarupa, and Santosh Pathak from Chowringhee—to the Alipore Survey Building to file their nomination papers, which triggered chaos.
Local TMC workers allegedly gathered on both sides of the road and shouted anti-BJP slogans, especially targeting Adhikari, who defeated Banerjee in Nandigram in 2021. TMC supporters installed loudspeakers around the Survey Building and played the party’s campaign songs, while some BJP workers got into a scuffle with them. Police had to restrict their movement with steel barricades.
Banerjee continued as chief minister after winning a by-election in Bhabanipur. Although the TMC won 213 seats against the BJP’s 77, the Nandigram debacle became a talking point.
“People want Mamata to leave. They want TMC’s ruffians to go to jail. My advice is that don’t just defeat Mamata, uproot TMC. States where BJP came to power after 2014 have witnessed development. Now it’s Bengal’s turn. I request with folded hands, ensure Suvendu Adhikari’s victory by a huge margin,” Shah said at the rally.
“Some journalists told me TMC’s ruffians won’t let the elections take place. I said they won’t be able to do anything in this election. People of Bengal are terrified by extortion by TMC workers. Women are unsafe. Infiltrators have changed Bengal’s demography. Bombs go off every day. Corruption has broken all records,” Shah said.
“People want change. The BJP government is coming on May 5. After that, the borders will be sealed. All infiltrators will be identified and pushed back,” he added.
The TMC reacted sharply to his remarks. Addressing a rally in Murshidabad, the district with Bengal’s highest Muslim population, CM Banerjee demanded Shah’s resignation.
“He says the demography has changed. He is responsible for that. He is the most inefficient home minister. I demand his resignation,” she said.
