Calcutta: The BJP on Saturday promised an NRC-like exercise in Bengal, with the party’s state unit chief Dilip Ghosh saying the objective was to drive “Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators” out.

“Just like in Assam, the NRC should be implemented in Bengal. The Trinamul government is not willing to do what is necessary, so we will implement it after we come to power here in 2021,” Ghosh, the Midnapore MP, said.

“For the thousandth time, we are saying the objective of implementing the NRC here is to weed out Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators…. Hindus, from Bangladesh, from any part of the world, are welcome,” he added.

The BJP is committed to protecting the interests of Hindu refugees through the Citizenship Amendment Bill, Ghosh said. “Hindus need not worry. The BJP will stand by them,” he said.

During the general election campaign, BJP president Amit Shah had said the NRC would be extended to Bengal to throw out the “infiltrators” but added that “Hindu refugees” would be protected.

“We could win seats like Bongaon, Ranaghat, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar as we could play the NRC card properly, which created a division among the voters,” a BJP insider said.

After the BJP won 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal, several Trinamul leaders had said in private that Mamata Banerjee’s belligerent opposition to the NRC had cost the party dear.

On Saturday, hours after Ghosh spoke, Mamata tweeted: “The NRC fiasco has exposed all those who tried to take political mileage out of it. They have a lot to answer to the nation. This is what happens when an act is guided by an ulterior motive rather than the good of the society and the larger interest of the nation.”

“My heart goes out to all those, especially the large number of Bengali speaking brothers and sisters, who are made to suffer because of this botched-up process,” she added.

Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury dripped sarcasm.

“They control the country now, they are free to conduct the NRC wherever they please. They were unable to properly carry out the Assam NRC, let them go to the other states too and see,” he said in New Delhi.

“They should come and conduct the NRC in Parliament too, if they can. I could also be deemed an outsider, as my father once lived in Bangladesh,” he added.