Guwahati/Alipurduar : Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday projected an emphatic electoral victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Assembly elections, claiming the party would secure 100 seats in Assam and as many as 200 in West Bengal, while sharpening the party’s focus on border security as a central campaign theme.

Addressing a public gathering in Alipurduar district of West Bengal, the Assam Chief Minister said stringent border control measures already implemented in Assam and Tripura should now be replicated in Bengal. “The need of the hour is to seal the border in West Bengal,” he asserted, underscoring concerns over cross-border infiltration as a key electoral issue.

Sarma’s remarks come amid an intensified BJP campaign in the eastern state, where the party is seeking to expand its footprint in a politically significant contest. As part of the campaign push, a 50-member delegation of the Assam BJP has been deployed across West Bengal to canvass support ahead of polling.

The elections, scheduled in two phases on April 23 and April 29, are expected to witness extensive outreach efforts by the delegation across multiple constituencies. Sarma, who has already arrived in the state, is slated to address three major rallies on Friday in Cooch Behar, Kalchini and Phansidewa Assembly segments.

Senior Assam ministers and party leaders, including Pijush Hazarika, Jayanta Mallabaruah, Ranjeet Kumar Dass, Bimal Bora, Dr Ranoj Pegu and others, have fanned out across constituencies to spearhead the campaign, alongside MPs and MLAs coordinating local outreach.

The West Bengal elections form part of a broader electoral cycle covering four states and one Union Territory, and are being closely watched for their national political implications. For the BJP, the contest is seen as a crucial test of its ability to consolidate gains in eastern India.

Party leaders maintain that recent political trends indicate a favourable environment for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Assam, while pointing to what they describe as growing momentum for the BJP in West Bengal.

  Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday dismissed allegations by the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) that a BJP government would impose restrictions on consumption of meat and fish in West Bengal, asserting that there are no such curbs in BJP-ruled Assam.

Addressing a poll rally in north Bengal, Sarma said people are free to consume non-vegetarian food in Assam, with the only restriction being on beef. “You can go to Dhubri or Goalpara and eat fish and meat as much as you want; there is no restriction,” he said, countering what he described as “misleading claims” by the ruling party in Bengal.

Targeting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Sarma alleged that concerns within the AITC stem from the possibility that a BJP government in the state would curb the beef trade. He further accused sections of the ruling establishment of benefiting from illegal cattle smuggling to Bangladesh.

“The AITC wants cattle smuggling to Bangladesh to continue so that they can fill their pockets,” he claimed.

The allegations come amid ongoing investigations by central agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into suspected cattle smuggling networks operating along the India-Bangladesh border.

Sarma also raised the issue of illegal immigration, stating that West Bengal requires a government capable of dealing firmly with undocumented entrants. “We have to make the BJP victorious in West Bengal in this election to ensure this,” he said.

Drawing comparisons with Assam, he claimed that the BJP government in the state had acted against illegal land encroachments. “We ensured that illegal settlers do not occupy land. We evicted them from encroached areas,” he said.

The Assam Chief Minister further highlighted differences in employee benefits, noting that government employees in Assam receive 50 per cent dearness allowance, while their counterparts in West Bengal receive “only 22 per cent”.

Polling for the 294-member West Bengal Assembly is scheduled in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with counting of votes slated for May 4.