BJP West Bengal state general secretary and Purulia MP Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato has written to the Centre highlighting the problem of illegal immigration from Bangladesh into West Bengal over the past few years. This, he said, has significantly altered the demographic landscape, leading to a host of security, economic, and social challenges. He also blamed the ruling Trinamool Congress for actively encouraging the influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
In a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday, Mahato said that the Jungle Mahal region, which spans Bankura, Purulia, Jhargram, and parts of West Midnapore, has long been a cultural and economic hub for indigenous communities. However, the influx of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants has drastically shifted the region’s demographic balance, he said.
Mahato, referring to Amit Shah’s recent speech in Sahibganj, Jharkhand, where he had said that “unchecked infiltration” could lead to a demographic takeover within the next few decades, Mahato wrote that this issue was not limited to Jharkhand; it was deeply affecting West Bengal as well.
“In Jungle Mahal, this demographic shift is creating profound challenges for local Hindus and tribal populations, who find themselves outnumbered in many areas. Illegal land acquisitions, fake marriages, and identity fraud facilitated by illegal migrants are eroding the economic and social stability of the region,” Mahato wrote. He said that the indigenous population was facing rising unemployment, as job opportunities were being increasingly seized by illegal immigrants, and tribal communities are being displaced from their ancestral lands.
Mahato wrote: “It is deeply concerning that this crisis is not only being ignored by certain political parties but is actively being facilitated by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and its allies in the I.N.D.I. alliance. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has openly invited Bangladeshi nationals to seek refuge in the State, effectively creating a vote bank of illegal immigrants.”
He alleged that the ruling political party in West Bengal was actively working to naturalize illegal immigrants by providing them with ration cards, voter IDs, and other official documents, allowing them to settle permanently in the State.
