Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday announced that the process of handing over land to the Border Security Force (BSF) for fencing the India-Bangladesh border would begin from today, with the transfer to be completed within 45 days. The decision fulfilled a key BJP poll promise centred around tackling illegal infiltration from Bangladesh.
Chairing the first Cabinet meeting at Nabanna (state secretariat), days after the BJP’s landslide victory in the Assembly polls, Adhikari said the BSF would get full control of the land required for fencing the India-Bangladesh border.
“In our very first Cabinet meeting today, we have taken the decision to transfer the land to the BSF. The process begins today and will be completed within the next 45 days. Once this is accomplished, the BSF will complete the border fencing and the issue of illegal infiltration will be resolved within a short period,” Adhikari told reporters after the meeting.
Infiltration emerged as a major political issue during the Assembly polls, with the BJP repeatedly accusing the TMC of leaving the border open to allow Bangladeshi infiltrators due to the “politics of appeasement”. During the election campaign, Home Minister Amit Shah had promised that if the BJP came to power, it would hand over all the land required for border fencing to the BSF within 45 days.
West Bengal shares a 4,097-km border with Bangladesh. According to the Union Home Ministry, nearly 3,240 km has already been fenced and about 850 km, including 175 km of difficult terrain, still remains uncovered.
The BJP has repeatedly alleged that delays in handing over land by the previous Trinamool Congress (TMC) government slowed the fencing process. The TMC maintained that local land and livelihood concerns had to be addressed before fencing work could proceed.
At the press conference, Adhikari claimed that only around 8 km of a proposed 127-km stretch had been sealed under the previous Mamata Banerjee government.
Under the TMC regime, border security operations remained under the BSF, since international border management falls under the Centre. However, land acquisition, local permissions and administrative coordination for fencing projects were controlled by the state government.
The issue became politically sensitive after the Centre expanded the BSF’s jurisdiction in Bengal from 15 km to 50 km inside border areas in 2021, a move fiercely opposed by the then-TMC government as an attack on federal powers.
MORE DECISIONS TAKEN BY FIRST BENGAL CABINET
Apart from the border fencing decision, Adhikari’s first Cabinet also approved the implementation of Ayushman Bharat and other pending central schemes in West Bengal.
He also announced that pending applications under welfare schemes, including Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana 3.0, would be cleared on priority. He accused the TMC of blocking central schemes to prevent the people from getting benefits.
The Chief Minister further said the state would implement the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) from Monday, allow IAS and IPS officers to attend central training programmes and begin the Census process after alleging that the previous regime had delayed related files.
“The previous government ignored the June 2025 Census circular from the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Bengal cabinet granted immediate implementation of it,” he said.
Adhikari also said the state government would take responsibility for families of 321 BJP workers who lost their lives during the recent political violence in the state.
