Asks people to vote during phase 2 without fear of ‘Didi’s goons’
Kolkata: Central forces will remain in West Bengal for 60 more days after the assembly polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday and asked voters to cast their votes without fear of “Didi’s goons” in the final phase, a remark signalling the Centre’s commitment to prevent possible post-poll violence.
Shah made the remarks while addressing a gathering on the last day of the election campaign after leading a massive roadshow in Behala, where voting will take place on Wednesday during the second and final phase of the West Bengal Assembly polls.
Voting was held in 152 constituencies on April 23 during the first phase of elections for the 294-member Assembly. A record 93 per cent voter turnout was registered in the first phase. Votes will be counted on May 4. “Brothers and sisters, go and vote on the 29th, do not worry about Didi’s (Mamata Banerjee’s) goons. The Election Commission has deployed CAPF at every nook and corner, and I am telling you that even though the BJP will come to power after the elections, central forces will remain here for 60 more days,” he said.
The road show, organised in support of BJP candidates for Behala Purba and Behala Paschim, turned the south Kolkata neighbourhood into a sea of saffron on the final day of campaigning. Standing atop an open-hood vehicle, Shah waved at supporters and showered flower petals on crowds lining both sides of the road.
Asserting that there was a strong wave in favour of the BJP, Shah said that once voted to power, the party would take strict action against infiltrators and those involved in political violence.
“I want to warn Didi’s goons in Chandannagar: do not step out to intimidate voters on April 29. After May 4, the BJP will punish the culprits and hang them upside down,” he asserted.
Earlier this month, Election Commission officials said that as many as 500 CAPF companies will remain deployed across West Bengal for post-poll law and order duties even after the declaration of results. They will stay “till further orders of the EC,” they said.
Each CAPF company comprises around 100 personnel. A record 2,450 central paramilitary companies, comprising nearly 2.5 lakh personnel, have been deployed across the state for the assembly polls. Of these, 2,321 CAPF companies have been deployed for the second phase of polling.
Shah’s statement that CAPFs would remain in West Bengal for “60 more days” even after polling is widely viewed through the prism of the 2021 post-poll violence in the state. After the results of the 2021 Assembly elections were declared on May 2, widespread violence was reported across several districts, with allegations of murders, arson, looting, assaults, sexual violence and forced displacement of opposition workers, particularly involving clashes between BJP and TMC supporters.
Political observers say Shah’s remark serves multiple strategic purposes. First, it is aimed at reassuring anti-TMC voters-particularly BJP supporters in politically sensitive and violence-prone constituencies-that they can vote without fear of post-poll reprisals. In Bengal politics, allegations of post-election violence and intimidation remain a major psychological factor, and the BJP is seeking to neutralise that fear.
Second, it helps reinforce the BJP’s long-standing political narrative that the TMC regime survives through coercion, intimidation and electoral violence, while the saffron party positions itself as the guarantor of democratic rights and free voting.
Third, it seeks to influence undecided voters and fence-sitters, especially in rural and semi-urban Bengal, where administrative pressure and local muscle power often shape voting behaviour. The underlying message is that the Centre will ensure protection, making it “safe” for voters to back the opposition.
