Standing at Murshidabad’s Berhampur stadium premises on Thursday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee unleashed a multi-pronged attack on the Centre, targeting issues ranging from migration and citizenship to river erosion, power projects and the Waqf Amendment Bill.
Addressing a large crowd, Mamata hit out at the BJP over its rhetoric on migrants. With characteristic sarcasm, she said, “Just looking at migrants is torture. Just looking at Murshidabad and Malda, everyone is Bangladeshi! It’s lucky I was born in Birbhum — otherwise they would have called me Bangladeshi too.”
She asserted that people displaced from Bangladesh were Indian citizens and reiterated her long-held position that NRC would never be implemented in the state.
“Even if they cut my throat, I will not set up a detention camp. I will not expel anyone from Bengal,” she declared.
From the same platform, the Chief Minister announced the inauguration of the 660 MW supercritical thermal power project at Sagardighi, a long-pending project first sanctioned in 2017. Built at a cost exceeding Rs 4,567 crore, the unit is set to begin power generation on December 10.
Mamata said the project will benefit nearly 16.7 lakh families and create employment opportunities for about 26,000 people.
The Chief Minister once again raised concerns over severe Ganga erosion in Murshidabad and Malda districts. She claimed that 12,116 bighas of land have already been swallowed by the river, adding that the Farakka Barrage — under central control — made the Centre responsible for prevention and mitigation.
Mamata said that although the Centre had promised dredging and Rs 700 crore during the Teesta water-sharing agreement with Bangladesh, the state was yet to receive the funds. She added that state-led initiatives worth Rs 96 crore have completed six erosion-prevention projects in the district despite obstacles linked to Farakka.
In her address, the Chief Minister urged people not to rely on the Centre for old-age allowances, asserting that the state’s Lakshmir Bhandar scheme, a monthly dole for women, would continue uninterrupted. She claimed that despite “central deprivation,” nearly 1 crore houses have been constructed under the Bengal Housing Scheme and other departments, with an overall target of 1.87 crore homes.
Expressing concern over the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2025, Mamata alleged attempts by “communal forces” to create divisions in Bengal. “Some forces are trying to divide people on religious lines,” she said.
She stressed that the Waqf amendments were brought by the Centre, not the state, and reminded the audience that the Bengal Assembly had already passed a resolution against the law and moved the Supreme Court.
“As long as we are here, I will not let anyone touch these places,” she asserted.
With political temperatures rising ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections in the state and the ongoing SIR process dominating administrative focus, Mamata’s Berhampur speech signals yet another round of sharp state–Centre confrontation.
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