'Will BJP Decide Who Is A Citizen?' Mamata Accuses Saffron Party Of 'Using' CAA With Eye On Gujarat

Mamata said that she would never allow the CAA to be implemented in her state.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee during a public meeting, in Krishnanagar

Source : PTI

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is using the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens in view of the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections, as reported by news agency PTI. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief also said that she would never allow the CAA to be implemented in her state. 

Mamata accused the saffron camp of trying to "bring in its supporters from other states and make them voters of West Bengal while snatching the rights of the permanent residents of the eastern state".

The Chief Minister further said, whenever an election comes, BJP talks about implementing CAA and NRC. 

"Whenever any election approaches, the BJP speaks of implementing CAA and NRC. With upcoming Gujarat assembly polls later this year, and Lok Sabha elections just a year-and-a-half away, it has again started to flare up the CAA issue.

"Will the BJP decide who is a citizen and who is not? Matuas are very much citizens of this country," Banerjee said while addressing party workers in Krishnanagar.

Matuas, who make up a large chunk of the state's Scheduled Caste population, had been moving to West Bengal from present-day Bangladesh since the 1950s, apparently because of religious persecution.

"If Matuas are not citizens of this country, then how are they casting their votes in elections? If Matuas are illegal citizens, then the BJP MPs and MLAs who have been elected with Matua votes should resign as their election is also illegal," she said.

The commitment of executing the controversial CAA had been a significant poll plank of the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha and the 2021 assembly polls.

"The BJP's plan is to use the CAA to grant citizenship to its supporters from other states and make them residents of West Bengal. They will then snatch away the rights of the permanent citizens residing here thus depriving you of various welfare schemes of the state government such as Lakhsmir Bhandar," she said.

Mamata said the state government has previously dispersed freehold land title deeds to refugee colonies in the state, consequently regularising those.

She likewise blamed the saffron camp for attempting to fan separatism in West Bengal by raking up statehood demands and iterated she won't ever permit the division of the state.

"The BJP is fanning separatism in West Bengal by instigating Rajbanshis and Gorkhas in northern parts of the state. We will never allow the division of West Bengal," she said.

Banerjee asserted that the BJP will not return to power in 2024.

"In 2019, the country's political situation was different; the BJP was in power in Bihar, Jharkhand and many other states. But now, its political presence has diminished across the country; it is no longer in control in many states.

"The BJP has already reached a saturation point in many states. The political situation of the country is changing very fast. That is why it is attacking opposition parties and arresting opposition leaders by maligning them," she said.

She likewise asserted that the Centre was not releasing MGNREGA funds throughout the previous few months.

(With PTI Inputs)