Kolkata, March 28 Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of "deliberately blurring" the distinction between Bengali-speaking Indians and Bangladeshi infiltrators for political gain.
His statement triggered a sharp counterattack from the ruling TMC, which alleged that the BJP was trying to replicate in West Bengal its "Assam-style detention camp politics".
Presenting a "charge sheet" against the TMC government at a hotel in New Town here, Shah alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government was using the issue of language to shield illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
"Mamata Banerjee is cleverly trying to erase the difference between Bengali-speaking people and Bangladeshis. Bangladeshi infiltrators also speak Bengali. The original residents of West Bengal have nothing to fear. But that does not mean Bangladeshis will be allowed to stay here," Shah said.
"We are firmly committed to identifying infiltrators. We will not only remove infiltrators from the voter list, but we will also remove each and every illegal immigrant from the country," he added.
The BJP leader said infiltration from Bangladesh had altered the demographic profile of several areas in the state and accused the TMC government of encouraging it for "vote bank politics".
"Because of infiltration, the demography has changed. Seventy-five per cent of those in the OBC list are Muslims. As a result, people of West Bengal fear that one day they may become minorities in their own state," Shah claimed.
He also accused the TMC government of corruption, appeasement and failing to protect the interests of the state's original inhabitants.
The remarks drew an immediate rebuttal from the Trinamool Congress, which alleged that the BJP was attempting to create fear among Bengali-speaking people and divide society on linguistic lines.
TMC vice president Jayprakash Majumdar said Shah should first look at the development work done by the Mamata Banerjee government before attacking it.
"Before pointing fingers at the Mamata Banerjee government, he should see the development work done by this government. Let the BJP also answer whether even a fraction of such work has been done in the states ruled by them," Majumdar said.
The TMC alleged that it was in fact the BJP that wanted to blur the distinction between Bengalis and Bangladeshis in order to target Bengali-speaking people.
"The BJP wants to blur the line between Bengali and Bangladeshi so they can import their hateful Assam-style detention camp model into West Bengal," TMC MP Mahua Moitra alleged.
The safety of Bengali-speaking migrants has emerged as a major political issue in West Bengal over the past year, with Banerjee repeatedly accusing the BJP of unleashing "linguistic terror" against Bengalis in BJP-ruled states.
The chief minister has held protests across several districts, alleging that Bengali-speaking migrant workers were being harassed, profiled and detained outside the state merely because of the language they spoke.
The TMC has also alleged that the BJP was using voter list revisions and citizenship-related exercises to target Bengali-speaking people.
Banerjee has accused the Centre of conspiring to harass Bengali-speaking migrants through voter list purges and has warned that she would raise the issue on global platforms if genuine voters from West Bengal were disenfranchised.