Kolkata: Union Home Minister Amit Shah Sunday launched a blistering attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing her of “stooping low” by opposing Operation Sindoor and the Waqf Amendment Bill to appease the Muslim vote bank, and alleged that the Murshidabad riots were “state-sponsored”.
Addressing party leaders and workers in Kolkata, Shah gave a clarion call to uproot the TMC government from power in the 2026 assembly elections.
“The tenure of Mamata Banerjee as the CM will end in 2026. The BJP will uproot this TMC government in the next elections. To appease the Muslim vote bank, Mamata didi opposed Operation Sindoor. By doing so, she is insulting the mothers and sisters of this country. You have not only opposed the military operation, but you have also played with the lives of crores of mothers and sisters,” Shah claimed.
The home minister said he has come to Bengal to “appeal to the women of the state and explain the value of sindoor (vermilion) to those who are against Operation Sindoor”. Shah claimed the mothers and sisters of Bengal would teach Banerjee and her party a lesson in 2026 for opposing the military strike, launched in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack in April that left several tourists, including some from Bengal, dead.
Banerjee had recently accused the Centre of politicising Operation Sindoor for electoral gains.
Responding to the allegation, Shah said, “During previous regimes in which Mamata didi was also a minister, no steps were taken to deal firmly with terror attacks. But our PM Narendra Modi took firm measures against terror attacks. But Mamata didi has a problem with it.”
For the sake of her vote bank, Mamata didi has “crossed all limits of stooping low”, he alleged.
“Pakistan-backed terrorists killed our innocent citizens in front of their families after asking them about their religion. Operation Sindoor was carried out to punish these terrorists. The headquarters of the terrorists were destroyed by entering Pakistan. However, Mamata didi was pained over the death of these terrorists. She opposed Operation Sindoor by issuing a cheap political statement,” he claimed.
Shah asserted that the Centre had launched a “deep strike 100 km into Pakistan, targeting terrorist headquarters. “Numerous terrorists were killed, but this seems to trouble Mamata ji. By doing so, you are not only opposed to the mission but also disregard the sentiments and emotions of the women of our country,” he alleged.
Referring to the killing of tourists from the state in the Pahalgam attack, Shah claimed, “When tourists from Bengal were killed in the assault, Mamata didi remained silent, but now she is having problems with Operation Sindoor.”
Turning his attention to the Murshidabad violence that erupted during protests over the contentious Waqf Amendment Act, Shah alleged that it was “state-sponsored”. “The way a TMC minister incited the violence, it can be said that the Murshidabad riots were state-sponsored, which caused injustice to the Hindus…Mamata Banerjee’s minister abused the BSF, and the party’s leaders were standing there and encouraging the rioters,” he claimed.
“If BSF personnel had been deployed, Hindus would have been protected. It was only after BJP workers approached the high court that the BSF was finally sent in,” Shah said.
Sharpening his attack on the state of affairs under Banerjee’s rule, Shah alleged, “Today, Mamata Didi has turned the great Bangla land into a centre of infiltration, corruption, atrocities on women, crime, bomb blasts and mistreatment of Hindus.”
“Mamata Banerjee is opposing the Waqf Amendment Act for appeasement politics…What is wrong with the Waqf Act? Should the land of Bengal be sacrificed because of Waqf,” he claimed, adding that the Act was necessary to end corruption and irregularities in Waqf properties.
The home minister also accused the ruling TMC of facilitating illegal cross-border movement from Bangladesh.
“The Bengal elections will not only decide the future of the state, but it is also linked to the security of the country. Mamata Banerjee has left Bengal’s borders open for Bangladeshis. Infiltration is taking place with her blessings. Only the BJP government can stop this,” he claimed.
On erecting fences along the border, he alleged, “Mamata Ji, we had requested you for land to construct a fence along the India-Bangladesh border, which would have effectively curbed infiltration. But you deliberately withheld the required land. Why? To ensure infiltration continues and your vote bank expands.”
Taking a swipe at the TMC over the teachers’ recruitment scam, Shah said, “Jobs of the youth are sold in the markets of Kolkata. So much money of the TMC has been seized from its leaders’ homes that even machines became tired of counting currency.”
He also attacked Banerjee for allegedly prioritising her nephew’s political future over national interest.
Shah, who served as the BJP’s national president from 2014 to 2020, recalled the party’s rise in Bengal. “In the 2021 assembly elections, we won 77 seats. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP was ahead in 97 assembly segments, and in 143 seats, we secured over 40 per cent of the votes,” Shah claimed.
He took a dig at the TMC, claiming that “without the use of violence, even Mamata Didi would lose her deposits in the elections.”
PTI
