BJP Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh led a march attended by around 10,000 people in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act here on Wednesday.

This is the first of its kind march organised by the BJP in Jalpaiguri in recent times. The party had won the Jalpaiguri Lok Sabha seat last year.

“In the Parliament elections, residents of north Bengal have not allowed Trinamul to win even one seat. This has left the Trinamul supremo and her party colleagues rattled. They are equally under pressure in the Jungle Mahal in south Bengal and these days, they are trying to get Maoists on board. We want to make it clear that if we are voted to power, the highhandedness of Maoists will not be allowed,” said Ghosh.

Asked about the recent initiatives by Raju Bista and John Barla, the BJP MPs of Darjeeling and Alipurduar, respectively, to expedite the process of reaching on a solution to the hill issue, Ghosh said the central government always honoured the Gorkhas in the region.

“We are well aware of the issue and also want a permanent political solution in the hills. The chief minister is, however, trying to impose Bengali on the hills,” said Ghosh.

He also alleged that Trinamul had used administrative machinery to prevent BJP supporters from attending the march on Wednesday.

“Tenures of a number of civic bodies have ended and yet, the state is not conducting civic polls. In April this year, the tenure of over 100 civic bodies will end. With such being the situation, residents of towns and cities are not getting proper civic services,” Ghosh said.