Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated that the BJP must win at least 22 of Calcutta's 28 Assembly seats to protect the city from infiltration, identifying it as a major issue alongside corruption. He urged party workers to uproot the TMC government in the 2026 elections, asserting that only the BJP can save Calcutta. Meanwhile, Congress workers protested Shah's visit, calling him anti-Bengal and burning his effigy over alleged attacks on migrant workers from the state in BJP-ruled regions.