Kolkata: West Bengal, which is already charged up with intense Trinamool-BJP rivalry, witnessed further escalation on Sunday as actor and BJP leader Mithun Chakraborty delivered a fiery message, vowing a tit-for-tat response to any violent overtures by Mamata Bannerje’s ruling party.

During a rally in Kolkata ahead of the by-polls to six Assembly seats next month, Chakraborty, 74, referenced a pre-Lok Sabha inflammatory comment by the Trinamool's Humayun Kabir

"A leader says there are 70 percent Muslims and 30 percent Hindus (and) that he will 'cut' and throw them in the Bhagirathi... I thought Chief Minister (Mamata Banerjee) would say something. She didn't... so now I am saying, we will chop them (up) and bury them in the ground...," Chakraborty was quoted as saying by NDTV.

The Election Commission censured Humayun Kabir for the comments threatening Hindu voters with dire consequences.

"I am not the Chief Minister... but I am saying this," the 74-year-old thundered, "We will do anything to win the masnad (throne) of Bengal... it will belong to the BJP after the 2026 Assembly election."

"I am saying it again and again... we will do anything (to win the 2026 election) ... anything. I am saying this with Home Minister Amit Shahji sitting here - we will do anything," he warned.

In front of a huge gathering, Amit Shah also felicitated Chakraborty for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award.

Chakraborty accused the Trinamool Congress of preventing Hindu voters from exercising their franchise.

He then said that the Bhagirathi River is considered mother by the Hindus.

"I say we will cut you up and throw you, not in the Bhagirathi because that is our mother, but we will throw you in the ground."

The provocative language follows a similarly charged comment from Kabir in May.

At a rally in Murshidabad district, Kabir allegedly stated, "You are 30 percent (of the people here) but we are 70 percent... if you think you can demolish mosques… I will leave politics if I don't drown you people in the Bhagirathi."

However, Trinamool Congress dismissed Chakraborty’s statements. Party General Secretary Jay Prakash Majumdar calling him "inconsequential as a political leader," the NDTV report said, citing a national news channel

"The leader (Kabir) he mentioned was censured by the Election Commission. But now, in the presence of Amit Shah, Mithun Chakraborty is saying this... will he also be censured?" Majumdar questioned, said the report.

During his address, Chakraborty also urged BJP supporters to show resilience against opposition, challenging them to "stand up and say, 'Shoot me... let me see how many bullets you have,'" while criticizing alleged suppression of Hindu voters by the Bengal state government. He told the gathering that the BJP doesn’t want members who wish to make money by becoming a party member.

West Bengal has witnessed pre and post-poll violence over the years with opposition parties alleging voter intimidation and mass poll rigging.

"If you cut down one fruit from our trees... we will cut down four of yours," Chakraborty said.

Before Mithun Chakraborty’s provocative speech, Home Minister Amit Shah accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her TMC of "state-sponsored infiltration".

Vowing to bring an end to unchecked infiltration, he said the BJP will form the next government.

"There is state-sponsored infiltration in Bengal and the only way to stop this is to elect the BJP in 2026... Instead of Rabindrasangeet, today you hear bombs," he said.

"In 2026, BJP will form the government with two-thirds majority" he declared.

Majumdar mocked Shah's "pathetic statement," highlighting that the BJP had made similar claims ahead of the 2019 and 2024 general elections, as well as the last Assembly election, only to face defeat each time.