KOLKATA: BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Sunday said that West Bengal cannot be made a shelter for infiltrators who indulge in anti-national activities, and accused the state's Trinamool Congress government of following appeasement policies for the sake of vote bank.
Addressing a programme to felicitate newly appointed BJP national vice-president Mukul Roy here, Vijayvargiya, who is the party's Bengal minder, gave a call to defeat the "corrupt, undemocratic and autocratic" TMC in Assembly elections due next year.
"Bengal cannot be turned into a dharmsala where anyone can come, stay and indulge in anti-national activities," he said and charged the TMC government with being responsible for the alleged influx of infiltrators.
Asking people to "fight against enemies inside", Vijayvargiya claimed that the Mamata Banerjee government has been pursuing appeasement policies for the sake of vote bank.
Even the cultural identity of Bengal propagated by Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda and others was facing threat, the BJP leader alleged.
The TMC wants to indulge in politics on every move the Narendra Modi government is making in favour of the poor "as it only thinks about power while the BJP thinks about the nation", he claimed.
Vijayvargiya also said that West Bengal had once been a front-ranking state in the education sector, but that glory has become a thing of the past.
He said that, if elected, the saffron party will restore the glory of Bengal in every field.
The senior BJP leader alleged that "the TMC has been unleashing violence against opposition party activists.
Vijayvargiya lavished praises on Mukul Roy stating that his "prudence and vast experience will guide the BJP in the state.
" Roy was named a vice-president during the organisational restructuring of the BJP's central unit late last month.
Once considered the number two in the TMC, he had switched over to the saffron party in 2017 following differences with party supremo Mamata Banerjee.
Roy, in his speech, said that he will remain with the BJP till his last breath.
On the alleged discontent within the party's state unit following the restructuring, Roy said, "Who holds which post is not important.
What is imperative is a united fight to dislodge the TMC in the assembly polls.
" He also complimented state unit president Dilip Ghosh saying he is a brave soldier who never backs out of a battle.