West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday asserted that her government will not allow implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) or National Population Register (NPR) in the state.
Maintaining that all the residents of the state are citizens of the country and no one can change that, Mr Banerjee accused the BJP of trying to play divisive politics using the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Addressing a public meeting here in North 24 Parganas district bordering Bangladesh, she said, “I, as the chief minister, say that you are citizens and no one can change that. We will not allow NRC or NPR.”
Ms Banerjee also claimed that these are the BJP’s ploy to throw people out of the state.
BJP national general secretary and in-charge of West Bengal, Kailash Vijayvargiya, last week said the CAA is likely to be implemented from January next year, as the Centre is keen to grant citizenship to the large refugee population in West Bengal.
Wooing the Matua community who hold considerable sway over a number of Assembly constituencies in North 24 Parganas and neighbouring Nadia district, Ms Banerjee said that a slew of development programmes has been taken up for the community.
“We will not allow Bengal to be turned into Gujarat,” the TMC chief said, claiming the BJP has destroyed the country through its “divisive politics.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought three laws against the interests of farmers to enable corporates to take away their produce at will, Ms Banerjee alleged.
The Chief Minister accused the BJP of making false allegations over providing monetary relief to the victims of cyclone Amphan.
“Just because one or two elements did some mischief, you (BJP) are seeking the accounts of Amphan relief. How much money have you given that you are asking for it?” she said.
