Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma led a 50-member delegation of MPs, ministers, MLAs and state office-bearers into West Bengal on Thursday to campaign for the BJP, holding rallies in Cooch Behar, Kalchini and Phansidewa as the party seeks to challenge Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress. Sarma framed Assam’s decade-long BJP rule as a model, saying the party in Assam and Tripura “do not allow infiltration from Bangladesh,” and accusing Mamata Banerjee of welcoming illegal immigrants to her state.
At the rallies, Sarma made several demographic claims, saying Assam’s Hindu population has fallen from 80% to 60% and that the upcoming census would show West Bengal’s Hindu share slipping from about 70% to around 60%, with a corresponding rise in the proportion of Bangladeshi Muslims. He also said Bangladeshi Muslims had been evicted from 1.5 lakh acres in Assam and warned that “if the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC remains in power, the situation in West Bengal will be worse than that in Bangladesh,” according to his remarks.
In Kalchini, Sarma criticized a mosque project associated with AJUP leader Humayun Kabir, saying the BJP would “teach him a lesson” if it formed the state government and questioning why any mosque would be named after Babar. He added: “We have no problem in construction of a mosque, but why in the name of Babar. No one would dare to make any mosque in the name of Babar in Assam,” as reported at the rally.
Sarma accused the TMC of colluding with tea garden owners to block wage increases. He said Assam’s government unilaterally raised daily wages for tea garden workers from Rs 240 to Rs 280 and provided ration, asking Mamata Banerjee to raise wages in West Bengal so workers there could “also eat such food.” On claims that the BJP would ban non-vegetarian food in Bengal, Sarma countered that Assam-ruled by the BJP for ten years-remains a non-vegetarian state and said the only restriction there is on beef: “We are Sanatanis. We will neither eat beef, nor let anyone eat it,” he told supporters.
Sarma also claimed that cattle are smuggled from Bengal into Bangladesh while people move into India from the neighbouring country. BJP Assam spokesperson Pranjal Kalita said national and regional media show a public inclination toward the NDA in Assam and rising momentum for the BJP in West Bengal. Addressing a crowd in Phansidewa in Darjeeling district, Sarma predicted a strong BJP showing, asserting the party would win 200 seats in West Bengal and saying, “Assam is a small state, we will score a century there; Bengal is a large state, we have to hit a double century.”
Original Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/assam-election-highlights-himanta-biswa-leads-50-member-assam-brigade-into-bengal/articleshow/130326313.cms
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Publish Date: 2026-04-17 14:34:00
