Mumbai: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today (Oct 12, 2004) said the saffron alliance will launch a campaign to deport illegal Bangladeshi migrants in the metropolis out of the country once the alliance comes to power in Maharashtra.

"There exists a big problem of illegal Bangladeshi voters sneaking into the metropolis and we appeal to the Indian voters to cast their votes in large numbers to reduce the impact of the Bangladeshi voters," Pramod Mahajan, BJP general secretary and in charge of party affairs in the State, told reporters in Mumbai.

Every Indian has the right to stay anywhere in the country, but this right is not for the Bangladeshi migrants, he said adding, "It is our duty to throw the Bangladeshis out of the country."

The issue should be resolved by the Centre and West Bengal and Maharashtra Governments, Mahajan said.

"The saffron alliance will launch a campaign to send the illegal Bangladeshi migrants residing in the State capital out of the country with the help of the Centre and West Bengal Government," he added.

The BJP general secretary said the saffron alliance had initiated the process of sending the illegal Bangladeshi migrants back to their country in 1995 but could not carry it further as there was no help from West Bengal Government.