New Delhi, May 29 (IANS) A day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that people leaving voluntarily would not face legal proceedings from the West Bengal government, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders while welcoming his stance, emphasised that illegal infiltration has negatively impacted India’s economy.

Speaking at a public function in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar district, HM Shah said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal had taken swift action on border-related issues, including the creation of detention centres and land transfers for border fencing work.

Addressing reporters, BJP MP Radhamohan Singh underlined that illegal infiltration has negatively impacted the country’s economy. “They should definitely leave the country,” he said.

Bihar Minister Ram Kripal Yadav stressed that the BJP government under Home Minister Amit Shah’s leadership has taken the issue of illegal infiltration from the Bangladesh border “very seriously”.

“The previous Trinamool Congress government had given the infiltrators a safe haven. They get in through the borders and claim resources meant for Indian citizens. Such people are being legally driven out, and border areas are being secured,” he told IANS.

BJP spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo said, “Unlike other political parties, what the BJP preaches, it definitely practices. Just as the party had promised during the campaign for West Bengal Assembly polls, it transferred land to the BSF for border fencing within seven days of coming to power.”

Referring to HM Shah’s statement, he added: “It is better that the illegal infiltrators return to their own country on their own, otherwise they may have to pay a heavy fine and even face imprisonment.”

BJP MP Lahar Singh Siroya said that illegal infiltration is also an issue in Karnataka.

“I wholeheartedly welcome this, and at the same time, I would also like to bring to the attention of the respected Home Minister that Karnataka has also become a haven for Bangladeshis. Many of the infiltrators were brought under the Congress regime, their Aadhar cards were made, and names added to voter lists,” he alleged.

During his address, HM Shah said the BJP currently governed “80 per cent of the country’s geographical area” and described the recent political developments in West Bengal as a major achievement for the party.

–IANS

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