ASHWANI KUMAR CHRUNGOO
FRAGRANCE OF IDEAS
We have recently come across, during the election campaigning in West Bengal, the specific changed statement of PM Narendra Modi in the shape of a slogan as “Sabka sath, Sabka vikas, Sabka hisab”. This is a very loaded statement and has a number of meanings and connotations. It is for the interpreter to interpret those in his or her choicest manner. Generally speaking, PM Modi doesn’t speak words or sentences that have double or different meanings. But this time, after due thought, he has done so; therefore, it needs to be decoded here and interpreted in its fuller perspective.
In an ordinary course of events, when the election campaigning in any area takes place, the political parties and their leaders primarily speak keeping in view the elections and the connected issues incidental thereto. Most of the things said are election-specific, and they usually lose their relevance once the campaigning is done.
However, sometimes it happens that the leaders speak about the policy of the future governments in case they get elected in the state or the centre. These statements set a template for the future governments to implement their policy, which they mention about in their campaigning. These become so important for all that they hardly ignore its implications, and if they do so, they do it only at their own peril.
PM Modi, while referring to the slogan ‘sabka sath, sabka vikas, sabka hisab’ during the campaigning, knew that the statement could be given different interpretations by the opposition parties and leaders and might bounce back. Despite this, he reiterated the same to convey a very important message.
In the common parlance, these words can have meaning to the effect that the opposition members who were involved in illegal activities or who might have done wrong acts before, during or after the elections earlier would be taken to task once the results go in favour of the BJP. However, PM Modi had his own targets while he delivered these statements, besides the usual meaning of the term.
Long before the elections in the five states that were held in the month of April this year, PM Modi talked about the growing demographic imbalance in the country and also referred to its consequences at a social and political level thereof. B.L. Santhosh, General Secretary (Org.) of the BJP, in an exclusive interview to Panchajanya some four months ago, classified the elections in West Bengal as a ‘civilizational challenge’. He was also categorical about the issue of illegal infiltration in the country, and particularly in the states like Assam and Bengal.
The issue of the illegal infiltration in West Bengal was raised by Mamta Bannerji herself in the parliament during the NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. At that particular time, she was not influenced by their vote-bank attraction as they used to be on the side of the Left-front political erena ensuring their consistent victory in their contention for power.
During the tenure of Inderjit Gupta as the Union Home Minister, who was also from the Left Front, the figures in regard to the illegal infiltrators in the country were tabled in the house, and they referred to their number as around one crore. These infiltrators were also involved in anti-national, illegal and immoral activities in various parts of the country. Now their number is suggested as three crore in the country, living primarily in West Bengal and Assam.
The Congress party is responsible for the ‘settlement’ of illegal infiltrators in the country. They did it initially in Assam. Faqruddin Ali Ahmed, a Congress leader and the then prominent Minister in Assam who later also became the President of India during his tenure as the Minister, made statements saying that the population influx in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) would affect the north eastern and the eastern states of India. He is held primarily accountable for opening gates to the illegal infiltrators in Assam. West Bengal, before and after the 1971 war with Pakistan, became the centre of Bangladeshi refugees, and many of them didn’t go back to their country after the liberation of Bangladesh.
The issue assumed alarming proportions when the political parties, for their own undue interests, encouraged this infiltration and used these infiltrators as their captive vote-bank. It was done earlier by the Congress, later by the Left parties and in the current context by the TMC headed by Mamta Bannerji.
Then there is also the infiltration issue of Muslim Rohangyas from Myanmar, coupled with the illegal infiltration of Muslim Bangladeshi infiltrators in the country. They were issued identity certificates/cards and voter cards by various governments in the past, and most of them couldn’t prove their citizenship in India, while a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voters’ list was done in certain states, including West Bengal. They were thus deleted by the Election Commission of India as genuine voters in India.
Mamta Bannerji, during her tenure as the Chief Minister of West Bengal, took this issue to the next level and made attempts to pit the original inhabitants of West Bengal against these illegal Muslim infiltrators and did everything to appease them at the cost of the local population and the national ethos and identity. She provided all sorts of security and facilities to these infiltrators who were/are involved in all kinds of anti-national activities.
She went to the extent of refusing to accept the Union Home Ministry’s proposal to acquire and allot land to the BSF to build permanent border infrastructure there to stop infiltrations. She also defied the Calcutta High Court verdict in this connection in regard to the deadline set by the court, and thus her government was also penalised by the High Court. Mamta Bannerji took no action in this regard up to her last day in the office.
The issue of border fencing around 600 kms with the Indo-Bangladesh border is a very serious and sensitive issue of national security for which the whole amount of expenditure was to be borne by the government of India. Mamta Bannerji went against the Union government, BSF, Calcutta High Court and the other central security agencies on the issue and harmed pivotal national security interests for her captive vote-bank.
The new West Bengal government under the leadership of Suvendu Adhikari, CM, in its first cabinet meeting, took the decision in regard to the land acquisition and passed orders to hand it over to the BSF in 45 days. Here comes the PM’s message of “Sabka Hisab”, and the BJP government in West Bengal has actually done it on the ground.
This is indeed a revolutionary step, keeping in view the national security, social and political equilibrium, and also a check on the demographic invasion from Bangladesh. BSF plans to create its sector headquarters and sub-sectors along the sensitive border. There is no need to feel shy about the fact that our policies for the last six decades have caused severe damage to the demographic equation and social relationships.
The new government in West Bengal, under the leadership and guidance of the Central government, has fulfilled a long-pending demand having ramifications in favour of our national security and demographic concerns. Now onwards, there will indeed be a superior coordination between the security agencies and the BSF and Police in all the three bordering states, i.e. West Bengal, Assam and Tripura, as all these three states have BJP governments. Real-time intelligence will also be shared between them.
As per the reports, there were/are a number of organisations and organised groups that settle these illegal infiltrators in West Bengal initially, make their Aadhar cards and other identity cards, and then send them to various other states. They would even support them financially for some time. All this illegal and anti-national activity is going to be curbed now.
The Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, is on record as saying that the infiltrators would be detected, detained and deported; and the work seems to have begun. There were reports that Bangladesh was thinking in terms of declaring a greater Bangladesh by making West Bengal a part of the plan. Deepak Vohra, a long-time diplomat of India, confirmed this and also added that Mamta Bannerji agreed with this thought and would aspire to be the ‘Prime Minister’ of this greater Bangladesh.
Abhishek Bannerji, M.P., the nephew of Mamta Bannerji, was the actual power behind the throne of Mamta Bannerji. He is mainly responsible for the creation of cut-money syndicates, corruption, violence, threatening statements and misuse of power in the erstwhile West Bengal government.
There was a large resentment against him among the public, which reflected in the voting pattern. Mamta lost her own seat in her den. Abhishek Bannerji gave open threats to the anti-TMC activists and even dared the Home Minister of India to visit West Bengal after 4 May. 2026.
The new government has initiated action against him under various provisions of law in order to make him accountable to the justice system of the country and restore confidence among the people at large. Now, the whole of Bengal is raising slogans like: ‘Pisi chor-Bhaipo chor’.
The victims of the political, communal and administrative violence during the last fifteen years of tyrannical rule in West Bengal are surely on the mind of the new government in the state. They are waiting for justice, and their wait is overdue now.
The new government has taken some drastic steps against certain senior civil and police officers who are under serious allegations against them. A large chunk of appointees in the government who were appointed by the Mamta regime as political appointments have been cancelled. This speaks to what PM Modi said is being implemented with finesse and time-bound targets, and will continue in future as well.
(The author is a senior BJP and KP leader, human rights defender & columnist and can be reached at: ashwanikc2012@gmail.com)