The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has today asked the Bangladeshi actor Ferdous Ahmed who had campaigned for Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress candidate Kanhaiya Lal Agarwal in North Dinajpur district to leave India. The MHA had earlier called for a report from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office(FRRO) inquiring whether he had violated any visa conditions.
On receiving the report, Ahmed has been asked to leave India and his visa has been cancelled. He has also been blacklisted by the MHA.
West Bengal shares a porous international border with Bangladesh and illegal infiltration from Bangladesh has been a cause of worry for India’s security. According to Agarwal, the response to Ahmed’s campaign was ‘excellent’ and was expected to campaign on Monday as well.
BJP has asserted that the TMC is trying to entice the Muslim voters which are about 50% of the population in North Dinajpur. “By engaging a Bangladeshi actor, the ruling party is trying to woo the nearly 50% Muslims voters in North Dinajpur. The Trinamool is scared of us and hence, bringing foreign actors here”, said BJP Bengal chief, Dilip Ghosh.