Asserting that neither West Bengal nor India will be safe until its frontiers are secured, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday (August 21, 2026) lamented that despite repeated requests, previous Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did not provide land required for fencing the India-Bangladesh border in the State.

Stating that no previous CMs of the State ever attended programmes of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) or the BSF, Mr. Shah congratulated Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari for breaking the glass ceiling.

"My desperate pleas to Mamata Banerjee for land to set up border fences by the BSF fell on deaf ears. I had been asking for 1,129 acres of land to strengthen border security since 2014. We received the land parcel only after the Adhikari government was formed in the state," Mr. Shah said at a programme for groundbreaking and foundation stone laying ceremonies of various SSB projects at its frontier headquarters in Siliguri.

Stating that the SSB is not a political organisation, Mr. Shah said that previous CMs staying away from the celebrations of border forces gave out wrong signals.

Mr. Shah said he was saddened by previous dispensations in India not awarding due recognition to the national song Vande Mataram since the country gained Independence.

"The complete version of Vande Mataram was never sung in India until at the Red Fort during the Independence Day celebrations this year. It gives me solace that the nation has finally recognised the song on the 150th year of its creation by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay," he added.