Indian Home minister and BJP chief Amit Shah Tuesday declared in Kolkata that the Centre will take the National Citizenship Registry across the country and “no matter how much the Trinamool Congress opposes it, the BJP will get it done”.
In the city to open pandals for Durga Puja, the state’s biggest festival, Mr Shah launched a full-scale political attack on the ruling Trinamool Congress and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The Chief Minister, he said, is keen on keeping infiltrators in the state to expand her voter base.
“Didi used to oppose these same people when they voted for Communists. Now that they are voting for her, she wants to keep them,” he said. Accusing the Trinamool chief of putting her party’s interest first, he said, “We cannot let national interest come ahead of any party’s interest”.
“Didi is saying she won’t let NRC happen, I want to promise you we won’t let a single infiltrator stay. Not one refugee will have to go, not one infiltrator will be able to stay, this is the BJP’s promise,” added the minister.
Earlier this year, the BJP rolled out the citizens’ list in Assam – the implementation was hugely criticized after it was found that it left out 19 lakh people. Even a section of BJP leaders in Assam have criticised it, claiming the list left out a number of Bengali Hindus who were among the party’s core voter group.
Last month, Mamata Banerjee had flagged the issue during her meeting with Mr Shah in Delhi and said the exercise was not required in Bengal. “I handed over a letter to him (Amit Shah), told him that of the 19 lakh people left out of NRC, many are Hindi speaking, Bengali speaking and local Assamese. Many genuine voters have been left out. This should be looked into,” she had said.
