Kolkata, June 18 -- West Bengal governor R.V. Ravi on Thursday said large-scale illegal infiltration had altered the state's demographic balance and alleged that vested interest groups had facilitated the influx over the years, as he outlined the newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government's priorities during his address to the first session of the new Assembly.

"The new government has already cracked down heavily on those who once ran a reign of terror and an extortion raj under the protection and patronage of the earlier ruling party in the state," the governor said.

"Influx of illegal infiltrators along the long porous international border over the last decades has severely affected the demographic balance of the state. The...