New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday attacked the BJP, saying the saffron party is raising the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA issue ahead of the Lok Sabha polls to reap electoral benefits.
She, however, asserted that she will never allow its implementation in the state during her lifetime, reported news agency PTI.
Addressing a public distribution programme at Raiganj in Uttar Dinajpur district, she alleged that the BJP "opportunistically raised" the issue of the CAA ahead of the upcoming elections.
"With elections approaching, the BJP has again raked up the CAA issue to reap political benefits. But let me make it very clear that as long as I am alive, I will not allow its implementation in West Bengal," Banerjee asserted, as per the PTI report.
The comments came after Union minister Shantanu Thakur on Sunday said that the CAA would be implemented across the country within a week.
Thakur's statement fueled concerns regarding the imminent enforcement of the controversial legislation.
The CAA, enacted by the BJP-led government at the Centre in 2019, seeks to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim immigrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.
She further expressed alarm over reports of the Border Security Force (BSF) allegedly issuing separate identity cards to residents in border areas.
"They are issuing separate identity cards to people living in border areas. Never accept these cards. This is a trap," Banerjee warned, the PTI report added.
The CM rallied support against what she characterised as an alliance between the Congress, CPI(M), and BJP in West Bengal, urging people to unite under the Trinamool Congress (TMC) banner to counter this perceived threat.
"It is the TMC that is fighting for the rights of the people of the state. We all have to unite to defeat the Congress-CPI(M)-BJP nexus in Bengal," Banerjee said, PTI reported.
Her remarks follow her recent announcement of the TMC's decision to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal alone.