BJP questions steps taken by West Bengal government for Bangladeshi refugees

KOLKATA: Questioning steps taken by West Bengal government for rehabilitation of Bangladeshi refugees, senior BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh today said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee 'welcomes' illegal infiltrators but has no sympathy for the refugees.

"We welcome and congratulate Shivraj Singh Chauhan for settling and giving jobs to 5464 Bangladeshi refugees in Madhya Pradesh. This is in line with a promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his election rallies that the refugees should be welcomed and the economic burden should be shared by all states," Singh told PTI here.

"We are happy that BJP ruled state (Madhya Pradesh) has taken this important step. The question is what is West Bengal government doing? We are noticing that Mamata Banerjee welcomes illegal infiltrators but but has no sympathy for refugees from Bangladesh," he said.

Modi in his speeches at the rallies prior to the Lok Sabha polls had repeatedly insisted that the burden of Bangladeshi refugees should be shared by the entire country.