Debra (WB), Apr 10 Turning the BJP's Bengal campaign into a personal and ideological overdrive, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of being more interested in installing her nephew as the state's next chief minister than in tackling alleged unemployment, corruption, floods and infiltration.
Addressing a rally at Debra in Paschim Medinipur district hours after releasing the BJP's manifesto in Kolkata, Shah trained his guns squarely on Banerjee and her nephew, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, seeking to cast the 2026 assembly polls as a battle between what he called dynastic politics and the BJP's promise of jobs, welfare, and a tougher law-and-order regime.
"People here are suffering, but Mamata Banerjee is more interested in making her nephew the next chief minister," Shah said without naming anyone.
He said that while Banerjee has only one objective – "to make her nephew the chief minister" – Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to provide jobs to Bengal's youth.
Carrying forward the BJP's ideological pitch unveiled in its 'Sankalp Patra' earlier in the day, Shah said a BJP government in West Bengal would implement the Uniform Civil Code within six months of coming to power.
"As soon as the BJP government is formed here, we will implement UCC. No one in entire Bengal will be permitted to have four marriages. The law should be equal for everyone," he said.
The UCC promise, already flagged by Shah at the manifesto launch in Kolkata, appeared designed to sharpen Hindu consolidation at a time when the TMC is expected to seek to bring wavering minority voters firmly back into its fold.
The Union minister repeatedly attacked the TMC government over illegal immigration, reviving one of the BJP's most potent themes in Bengal politics.
"Mamata Banerjee wants to protect infiltrators, but the BJP wants to detect, delete and deport infiltrators. Mamata ji, no matter how hard you try, we will drive out every illegal immigrant from West Bengal," Shah said, adding that infiltrators were "taking away jobs from Bengal's youth, eating the poor's ration and creating lawlessness".
Shah said that every infiltrator would be "detected and thrown out" after the elections if the BJP formed the government.
The home minister also issued a stern warning to alleged TMC-backed strongmen and local musclemen.
"I want to tell the goons perpetrating atrocities on behalf of Mamata Banerjee that you should decide where to go after May 5 (a day after poll results are announced). Because the BJP government is coming, and whoever harasses the public after that will be put behind bars," he said.
Shah alleged that West Bengal had become synonymous with corruption, extortion and syndicate raj under the TMC.
"The TMC has destroyed West Bengal with its cut-money politics," he said.
He alleged that from cement and sand to household goods, "the syndicate is everywhere", and promised that a BJP government would dismantle the entrenched network of local strongmen and middlemen.
"Whether you need cement, sand or even a fan, the syndicate is everywhere. Once you press the lotus button, the BJP will throw this entire syndicate into the Ganga," he said.
Seeking to widen the attack beyond law and order, Shah accused the Banerjee government of bankrupting the state and prioritising madrasa construction over education for the poor.
"Bengal is burdened with a debt of Rs 8 lakh crore, but Mamata ji is unconcerned. She is focused on constructing madrasas rather than building schools for the underprivileged," he said.
He claimed that the state government had allocated Rs 5,000 crore for madrasas.
"Mamata Banerjee rose to power with the slogan of 'Maa-Mati-Manush', but youth have been left unemployed, women subjected to atrocities and life made difficult for farmers," Shah said.
In a calibrated welfare pitch aimed at women, unemployed youth and farmers -- sections the BJP is trying hard to prise away from the TMC -- Shah reiterated promises made in the party manifesto.
He said that after the BJP came to power, every unemployed youth would get Rs 3,000 a month, women would receive Rs 3,000 directly in their bank accounts and farmers would get Rs 9,000 annually.
"Corruption, bribery and opposition to the Modi government have troubled the people here. Unemployment is troubling the youth. But don't worry, after May 5, the BJP will give every unemployed youth Rs 3,000 every month," he said.
With Debra and adjoining Ghatal region reeling every year under floods, Shah also sought to turn a local grievance into a political issue, accusing the TMC government of stalling the long-pending Ghatal master plan.
"When floods struck Ghatal, Modi ji proposed a master plan worth Rs 1,500 crore. The Centre was ready to bear 60 per cent of the cost, but the TMC government rejected it," he said.
Promising quick implementation of the project if the BJP came to power, Shah said, "Form a BJP government and we will implement the Ghatal master plan within one year and solve the flood problem permanently."
He also referred to the continued silting of the Rupnarayan river and accused Banerjee of ignoring the issue while remaining preoccupied with succession politics.
Rejecting Banerjee's allegation that a BJP government in Bengal would be "run from Delhi", Shah asserted that the next chief minister would be "a BJP karyakarta born and brought up in Bengal".