Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday slammed the BJP for digging up the bogey of Citizenship Amendment Act to divide and terrorise the voters ahead of the next year’s general elections.

Two days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah assured the voters that CAA would definitely be implanted in India Banerjee hit back at the saffron government for “creating a needless flutter among the people by digging up a dead issue like CAA.”

She said, “some people are saying that citizenship will be given to the (Hindu) immigrants after the CAA is implemented … but I want to assure that this is a pre-poll gimmick as there is no need of CAA to gain citizenship because already you (the people) are citizens of India,” asking “if you are not citizens already then how you are getting benefits of government schemes, how you are getting your PAN and Aadhar Cards, how you are getting government jobs, how your children are going to government schools.” She further asserted that “some parties (read BJP) are trying to beguiling the people in the name of CAA … you all are citizens of this country and no one can take that right from you … they are trying to raise the issue because they want to discriminate among the people …but we have to remain alert against their trick … we will have to remain united and thwart their designs to divide the people in the name of religion, caste etc in order to get votes.”

Shah had on Tuesday told a BJP organizational meeting in Kolkata that the workers would have to reach out to the people and tell them that CAA would definitely be implemented.

Attacking Banerjee for standing in the way of CAA he said, “Didi is misleading the people but let me tell you that CAA is a law passed by the Parliament and is a reality … now no one can stop it from being implemented … where is the problem if our brothers --- who have been pushed out of neighbouring countries … who have fled those countries because they were being forced to change their religion --- are given citizenship … they will definitely get citizenship and no one can stop it.”

Alerting the people against the “new pattern of veiled dictatorship being practiced by the BJP Government,” Banerjee said, “they have passed laws after suspending 150 MPs … this is unprecedented in the history of Indian democracy … this is a dictatorship … today India is witnessing democracy run by the Agencies (ED and CBI) only.

Attacking the BJP for targeting the opposition leaders in the name of corruption and doing nothing to their own corrupt leaders, she said, “BJP is a big washing machine where the corrupt leaders from other parties take shelter … after these traitors join the BJP nothing is done against them … on the other hand they are arresting the leaders like Balu (Bengal Forest Minister Jyoti Priya Mallick) so as to prevent them from working before the elections.”

The BJP was branding the other parties as thieves, she said adding, “if the other parties are thieves then they are big dacoits who are looting India … today you (BJP) are in power but tomorrow you may not be there … then all your misdeeds will come to the fore.”