It has been clear over the past month that infiltration across India’s border with Bangladesh has become a key component of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s strategy for assembly elections in the eastern state of Jharkhand. Many senior leaders of the party, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, came out strongly on the infiltration issue during their campaigns in Jharkhand.

It was stated at separate events by Shah in West Bengal and Sarma in Guwahati on October 27 that the saffron party will implement the same strategy in the next assembly elections in West Bengal and Assam in 2026. It’s a coordinated move to amplify the problem of infiltration in public discourse in two states that share borders with Bangladesh and where illegal immigration has long been a problem.

The BJP sees West Bengal as the last frontier to capture in the political rise in eastern India. Shah, who is making his first visit to West Bengal since the previous national elections in which the BJP performed below average by winning fewer seats compared to 2019, flagged the issue of cross-border infiltration. Shah, who inaugurated the newly built passenger terminal and cargo departure gate “Maitri Dwar” at Petrapole in India, opposite Benapole in Bangladesh, on the morning of October 27, called on West Bengal voters to bring the BJP to power in the 2026 assembly elections. to infiltrate.

Hours later, at an event organized by the BJP in Kolkata, Shah raised the issue once again, accusing West Bengal’s Mamata government of “state-sponsored infiltration” and corruption. He emphasized that a BJP government with a two-thirds majority should be elected to solve the problems. There are two important aspects to Shah’s remarks: (1) he argued that there was no legal framework for cross-border movements of people that would lead to infiltration; and (2) framed the issue of infiltration in terms of peace, development, and better relations with Bangladesh. “Peace in West Bengal can only be achieved if support for illegal infiltration stops and comes to a complete halt, which will usher in a new era of partnership with neighboring countries.” he added.

At a press conference held in Guwahati the same day, Sarma said Indian states bordering Bangladesh should coordinate among themselves and with the Border Security Force (BSF) to thwart infiltration attempts in the wake of political turmoil in the neighboring country. While governments in Assam and neighboring BJP-ruled Tripura are already working with the BSF, Mamata said her government should cooperate and detect infiltrators because those repatriated to Bangladesh from Assam and Tripura could re-enter via Bengal.

While the BJP dispensations in Assam and Tripura easily cope with the BSF in controlling infiltration from across the border, things are not so smooth in West Bengal, where the Mamata administration and the border guards are often at loggerheads on the issue. The BJP accuses the Bengal government of not cooperating sufficiently with the BSF in checking infiltration into Muslim “vote bank” politics; The BJP also accuses the TMC of protecting infiltrators. TMC says it is the duty of the BSF, which is controlled by the central government, to ensure that infiltration does not take place. The Mamata government had opposed further expansion of BSF’s jurisdiction in the state due to its operations against cross-border crimes. BSF suspects that those involved in these crimes often seek protection in the state.

Infiltration probably occupied a significant portion of both Shah and Sarma’s final speeches because the BJP (at least in Assam) was not very happy with the recent verdict of the Supreme Court Constitution bench. The decision confirmed the validity Article 6A of the Citizenship Law of 1955, This gives a window for granting Indian citizenship to those who migrated from the erstwhile East Pakistan and later Bangladesh. The Assam chief minister has made no secret that he would like to see the final year for detecting illegal immigrants be 1951 instead of March 25, 1971, the day the Bangladesh Liberation War began.

The BJP is using the infiltration issue as a political tool to project the Hindutva theme. However, Sarma claimed that it was the Rohingyas, not Hindus, who were trying to enter India illegally on October 27 and that “the perception that Hindu Bengalis are trying to come is wrong.” “What concerns us least of all is the religion of those who infiltrate. Our focus is on pushing back if someone comes in illegally.” he said. While such religion-free rhetoric from Sarma may be politically rewarding for the BJP in Ahom-majority Assam, the challenge for the party is how to reconcile it with its Hindutva plan. Therein lies the party’s dilemma.

Pallab Bhattacharya He is a special correspondent for The Daily Star. He writes from New Delhi, India.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author.

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