Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday, 28 May said the newly-formed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal had transferred 600 hectares of land to the Border Security Force (BSF) within just seven days of assuming office, enabling the resumption of long-stalled fencing work along the Bangladesh border. Shah made the remarks while addressing a public gathering in Sonipur village, Gandhinagar district, during an inauguration and foundation-stone-laying ceremony for development projects worth ₹340 crore.

The Land Transfer and Border Security Push

Shah specifically congratulated West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari for the swift land handover. 'I want to congratulate West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari for handing over 600 hectares of land to the BSF within just seven days,' Shah said. He added that an additional 121 hectares in the strategically sensitive Chicken Neck corridor had also been transferred to the Central government.

The BJP had publicly pledged during the West Bengal election campaign to accelerate border fencing the moment it came to power. 'We had promised during the election campaign that if you handed governance to us, we would begin fencing work along the Bangladesh border within a few days,' Shah said, framing the land transfer as direct fulfilment of that commitment.

Shah's Claims on Infiltration

The Home Minister linked the land transfer to what he described as an immediate security dividend, claiming that cross-border infiltration had already begun to fall following the change in government. 'Earlier, under Mamata's rule, infiltration took place every day, but now infiltrators are themselves starting to return,' he said. The remarks were not independently verified, and no official BSF data was cited to support the claim.

This comes amid longstanding disputes between the previous All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in Bengal and the Centre over land acquisition for border fencing — a deadlock that had delayed significant stretches of the Bangladesh border fence for years.

BJP's Political Footprint and Bengal Election

Shah used the occasion to highlight what he described as the BJP's expanding national dominance. 'Today, the BJP governs 80 per cent of the country's geographical area. Most recently, elections were held in Bengal, where Didi's government was completely wiped out,' he said, referring to the TMC's electoral defeat. He also claimed the BJP's presence now stretched across the entire Ganga belt 'from Uttarakhand to Gangasagar.'

Development Works in Gandhinagar

Shah's visit to Gandhinagar covered multiple development programmes in the Kalol and Gandhinagar North Assembly constituencies, including the inauguration of drinking water facilities, upgraded Anganwadi centres, and village development projects. According to Shah, development works worth ₹1,200 crore had been inaugurated or launched across the two constituencies within the preceding 10 days. He credited the outlay to a combination of state government funds, Central government allocations, and Corporate Social Responsibility contributions from private industrial groups.

What Comes Next

With land now reportedly in BSF hands, border fencing work along the Bangladesh boundary is expected to accelerate. The Chicken Neck transfer is particularly significant given the corridor's strategic importance as the narrow land passage connecting northeastern India to the rest of the country. Whether the pace of construction matches the political momentum will be closely watched by both security analysts and opposition parties.