West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday, May 29, launched the state’s Census 2027 preparations with a clear warning about demographic changes in border areas of the state. He said that the exercise will play a major role in identifying illegal immigrants across the state.
Earlier in the day, Adhikari held a meeting of Principal Census Officers (PCO) at state secretariat Nabanna and noted that the Census activity was “extremely important” for West Bengal, which shares a long border with Bangladesh.
“For the past few days, you have been seeing on television how people are lining up in the Bangladesh border areas to return. They are not Indians, and if their names are to appear in the Census, they will not be able to provide the required information or documents,” Adhikari said.
He added, “Therefore, the Census is extremely important for our state because the demography here has changed significantly,”
Adhikari has clearly stated that the Census in Bengal has “no connection with politics”. He added that it will be held from August 1 to February end next year.
“Demographic composition in parts of Bengal has changed due to infiltration, unfenced 600-km border with Bangladesh,” he added.
Census in Bengal has no connection with politics, it will be held from August 1 to February end next year: CM Suvendu Adhikari in Kolkata.
Demographic composition in parts of Bengal has changed due to infiltration, unfenced 600-km border with Bangladesh: CM Suvendu Adhikari. pic.twitter.com/M8rH06tnQc
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 29, 2026
The West Bengal CM alleged that the Census process had earlier been stalled by the erstwhile government in West Bengal.
“This (the Census) is extremely important, particularly for our state, because Census data is very important here. Our state shares approximately a long border with Bangladesh. Due to the absence of fencing in several areas and because the earlier state government did not provide land to the Border Security Force (BSF), the demography of our state has changed considerably,” Adhikari said.