Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders Babul Supriyo and Kunal Ghosh on Monday accused the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of evicting hawkers from encroached government land and setting up “holding centres” in West Bengal for illegal foreigners.Supriyo referred to the eviction drive at Kolkata’s New Market and other areas. (X/ AITCofficial, Screengrab)“The ongoing hawker eviction drives are part of a larger strategy, a planned political operation. A party that came to power promising ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikash’ cannot show religious and political preference in its action. A chief minister represents everyone. He must show mercy for the poor,” said Supriyo, who switched from being a BJP Union minister in 2021, in a press conference alongside TMC state general secretary and MLA Kunal Ghosh.Supriyo referred to the eviction drive at Kolkata’s New Market and other areas where a sizeable section of hawkers belongs to the Muslim community.The eviction drives started soon after Suvendu Adhikari took the oath as chief minister on May 9.At New Market, hawkers affiliated with the local BJP union forcefully shut down numerous shops days before the swearing-in ceremony.BJP leader and panchayat and rural development minister Dilip Ghosh justified the eviction drives and said, “A large number of these hawkers encroached upon Railway land. The eviction drives are necessary.”Kunal Ghosh - one of the 80 winners in the recent polls that catapulted the BJP to power with 207 MLAs - questioned the state government’s May 23 order sent to district magistrates on setting up “holding centres” for apprehended illegal Bangladeshi migrants before their deportation.Also Read:CM Adhikari asks districts to set up ‘holding centres’ for illegal foreigners“Stopping infiltration at the border is the Centre’s responsibility. If it still happens, there is a legal procedure. The accused must be arrested and produced in court before deportation. Can people be picked up and put in these holding centres? A lot of questions remain unanswered,” Kunal Ghosh said.Union minister of state and former state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar justified setting up “holding centres” and said, “These holding centres are being set up following Central government orders. Infiltrators will be identified and pushed back from now on. The government will not waste taxpayer’s money to feed them in jail.”The press conference was called amid the continuing arrest of elected TMC panchayat and municipality members on criminal charges across the state. Several of the party’s organisational leaders and youth wing members were also arrested.On Monday, TMC chairman of North Barrackpore municipality, Moloy Ghosh along with 14 councilors, resigned saying they could “no longer run the civic body with the BJP in control” of the local Noapara assembly, which has 23 seats. Three seats have remained vacant since the deaths of three TMC councilors.While civic body polls in the state will be held no earlier than December, many TMC councilors from various municipalities resigned after the assembly poll results were announced on May 4.North Barrackpore municipality is in North 24 Parganas district where many TMC councillors from Garulia, Halisahar and Bhatpara municipalities resigned earlier citing the same reason.“Our leadership is closely monitoring the developments,” Kunal Ghosh said.On Sunday, TMC Lok Sabha member Kakali Ghosh Dastidar also resigned as president of the party’s Barasat unit in North 24 Parganas district, stating that the leadership should prioritise older and senior leaders in the forefront.Hours later, Madan Mitra, the winner of the district’s Kamarhati assembly seat was made the president of the party’s Dum Dum unit.