Detect, delete, deport: What Suvendu Adhikari's three-step plan against illegal immigrants in West Bengal actually means

KOLKATA: Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari on Monday said that "detection and deletion" had already been done and state govt will soon start to "deport", pointing at driving out alleged illegal immigrants from Bengal. He also said that state govt had started processes for census, which was delayed by the previous govt.

"First we detected in the voters' list, then we deleted from the list and now the time has come for deportation," Adhikari said while addressing a gathering at Vardaan Market area in Kolkata's Camac Street. No timeline, however, was mentioned.

Citing Tiljala, Adhikari spoke on state govt's drive against illegal construction. "You have seen the action in Tiljala. They have moved the court and they are free to do that. There is no building plan with them and we will not allow such things any more. They will have to pay the price for what they have done in Park Circus. They vandalised a police phari in Asansol. There will be 200% consequences," the CM said.

Adhikari went on to say that there has been perceptible change in Bengal in the past few days. "Sikhs are exempted from wearing helmets. Rest of the population has to wear helmets. A change can be seen and long queues could also be seen to purchase helmets. The communities should keep loudspeakers confined to religious premises. A lot of work will be done soon," he said.

Earlier in the day, Adhikari held his first public grievance outreach programme — ‘Janatar Darbar' — at the Salt Lake BJP office.

The programme, scheduled to be held every Monday, will be conducted both at the party headquarters and at administrative level.

"We have started this programme from the party office. This is a programme where people will speak to us directly," Adhikari said while being accompanied by BJP general secretaries Locket Chatterjee and Shashi Agnihotri at the meeting. He then went on to hold his second cabinet meet.

'Purvodaya' vision

Last week in Assam, Suvendu Adhikari had made it clear that Bengal would follow Assam’s border security model to prevent infiltration and promised closer regional cooperation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Purvodaya” vision for eastern India.

Adhikari made the remarks during the swearing-in of Himanta Biswa Sarma-led BJP government in Assam.

Congratulating the NDA on its victory in Assam, the Bengal CM stressed the importance of political partnership between the BJP governments in Bengal and the northeastern state.

“The kind of work that has been done in Assam and Tripura in the interest of the nation will now be carried out by BJP in Bengal as well,” Adhikari said, drawing a direct comparison between Assam’s handling of border and infiltration issues and the saffron party’s roadmap for Bengal.

Targeting the previous regime in Bengal, Adhikari said “appeasement politics” had weakened border management and national security. He said the Trinamool government had failed to provide land to the BSF to fence the unfenced stretches of the Bengal-Bangladesh border.

“That (TMC) govt did not even provide land to BSF, raising serious questions about (its commitment to) national security,” he said. “As done by Assam, we will take all necessary measures to deal with illegal infiltrators and strengthen security along the Bangladesh border.”

The remarks came hours after Adhikari announced in Kolkata that his government had begun the process of transferring land to the BSF for construction of a border fence.

Addressing the media after the first meeting of the new Bengal cabinet on Monday, Adhikari said the land needed for the border fence would be handed over to the Union home ministry within 45 days.