Following a special intensive revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar, the updated voter list has been published, and elections in Bihar may be announced soon. However, the issue of Bangladeshi infiltrators is overshadowing the pre-election atmosphere. The BJP is using the issue of Bangladeshi infiltrators to counter the Congress and RJD, the opposition parties.
The BJP’s focus is entirely on the Seemanchal region while raising the issue of infiltration. The Muslim population in Seemanchal is approximately 47 percent. In the last election, Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM won five seats in the Seemanchal region, and the BJP has started focusing on this area bordering Bengal.
Why does Seemanchal matter to the BJP?
It is interesting that the BJP is raising this issue from Seemanchal, which borders West Bengal, and where the percentage of the Muslim population is the highest. According to the 2011 census, the total Muslim population in Seemanchal is 47 percent, while it is 17.7 percent in the whole of Bihar.
Seemanchal has 24 seats out of Bihar’s 243 assembly seats, spread across four districts: Purnia, Araria, Kishanganj, and Katihar. The RJD-Congress alliance traditionally enjoys strong support from Muslim and Yadav voters here.
In the last election, Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM surprisingly entered by winning five seats. This split the opposition votes and indirectly benefited the BJP, which emerged as the largest party in this region.
The BJP has made infiltration an issue in the Bihar elections.
In a recent rally, the Prime Minister, sharply attacking the main allies of the Mahagathbandhan, said, “The politics of vote bank is such that Congress, RJD and their entire system are busy in defending and protecting foreign infiltrators. They have become so shameless that they are raising slogans in support of foreign infiltrators and taking out rallies.”
Following the Prime Minister’s attack, Union Home Minister Amit Shah warned that the aim of the opposition’s “vote rights yatra” led by Rahul Gandhi in Bihar was actually to protect the right to vote of the infiltrators.
It is interesting that this is not the first time that top leaders of the BJP are being heard raising the issue of illegal infiltration before the assembly elections in any state.
Infiltration has already been an issue in Assam and Bengal.
Illegal infiltration has already been a major electoral issue in states like Assam and West Bengal. In West Bengal, the BJP has been continuously accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of appeasing Bangladeshis. The BJP alleges that Mamata Banerjee is turning Bangladeshi infiltrators into voters to create her vote bank.
The BJP has claimed that the state will be cleared of Bangladeshis if the SIR takes place in Bengal. In Assam too, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is continuously running a campaign against Bangladeshi infiltrators, and Bangladeshi infiltrators caught are being sent back to Bangladesh.
Illegal infiltration has become an issue in the Delhi-Jharkhand elections.
Before the elections in Delhi and Jharkhand, the BJP had launched a very strong campaign against illegal infiltration. During the Delhi assembly elections, the issue of illegal Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants had gained momentum. Top BJP leaders had accused the AAP government of settling Bangladeshis and Rohingyas in Okhla, South Delhi. At the same time, AAP, responding to the BJP’s allegations, accused of “deliberately” and “unconstitutionally” removing names of voters from the voter list.
In Jharkhand, top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Modi, Amit Shah, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, campaigned throughout the state and accused the JMM government led by Hemant Soren of turning the state into a shelter for Rohingyas and Bangladeshi infiltrators. In that election, Yogi gave the slogan “Kaatenge to Ladenge” to encourage people to unite.
Exercise of polarization of Muslim and Hindu votes
This election slogan was later refined by Prime Minister Modi and changed it to “Ek Rahoge to Surakshit Rahoge”. Further strengthening this slogan, Prime Minister Modi said, “The politics of appeasement is at its peak in Jharkhand, where the JMM-led coalition is busy in supporting Bangladeshi infiltrators. If this continues, the tribal population in Jharkhand will decrease. This is a threat to the tribal society and the country. This alliance has become a ‘infiltrator bond’ and a ‘slave of the mafia’. Now this issue is being raised prominently in the Bihar elections.”
Bihar elections are likely to be held in October-November 2025. The Election Commission has not yet announced the election dates. This year the contest will be between the NDA (BJP, led by JDU), Mahagathbandhan (led by Congress and RJD) and Prashant Kishore’s Jan Suraaj Party. In such a situation, the BJP is again trying to polarize Muslim and Hindu votes by raising the issue of Bangladeshi infiltrators.
