A day after the Centre decided to provide citizenship mainly to the minorities who migrated from Pakistan and were presently living in the two Gujarat districts of Mehsana and Anand Bengal Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari said Gujarat decision was a prelude to the implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act getting implemented in rest of India, and “particularly Bengal.”
Adhikari said “though I am not privy to what transpired in Delhi … it seems that a rule has been issued on the CAA and it is in the process of being implemented.”
Speaking to the media personnel the Trinamool Congress-turned BJP leader said, “it is apparent that the CAA is being implemented in Gujarat by providing citizenship to the minorities who came from countries like Pakistan … it is just a beginning and will be implemented all over India in phases… as Bengal is a part of India this Act will be implemented soon in this state also.”
The “Matua and Nama Sudras communities who migrated from Bangladesh and have to produce their land deeds to get passports or visas will not have to go through such tedious proceedings … they will also be recognised as the other ordinary citizens of the country now,” Adhikari said.
Adhikari’s statement comes months before Bengal goes to panchayat elections early next year.
As new citizenships in Gujarat would be accorded under the Indian Citizenship Act 1955 instead of the much debated Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 the Bengal BJP leader’s statements is being seen as an attempt no only to play to the Matua gallery but also ensure that the electoral atmosphere remains polarised as it had been during the recent elections, experts say.
Matua leader and Union minister of State Shantanu Thakur who had last year given the Centre an ultimatum to implement the CAA too said that implementation of the amendment act would be of great help to the 80-lakh strong Matua community that had a direct impact on at least 75 assembly seats in the State.
The Central government decision to provide citizenship is likely to benefit non-Muslim people of two who had earlier migrated from the neighbouring countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan.
Reacting to Adhikari’s statements CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakrabarty said, “BJP in Bengal has no issue … they have gone bankrupt and their graph is falling … this is the reason they are once again trying to play divisive politics … but let them try to implement CAA in Bengal and see the consequence.”
Going by the results of the recently conducted by-elections and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation polls a moribund Left has come up to the second position by displacing the BJP.
The ruling Trinamool Congress on the other hand too has suffered politically in the recent months particularly after a number of its ministers and leaders went to jail post school level appoint scam and coal and cattle smuggling expose. This has seen the TMC losing a number of panchayats to the Congress and the Left in Muslim dominated districts like Murshidabad.
Congress State president Adhir Chowdhury said “the BJP is trying to play divisive politics … By telling the half truth Suvendu Adhikari is trying to mislead the people of Bengal… In Gujarat citizenship is being provided under the Citizenship Act of 1955 and not the CAA.”
Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that the citizenship drive was a ploy to divert attention from the Morbi Bridge collapse case. “Why doesn’t Suvendu Adhikari say something about the bridge collapse … why did they require to provide this citizenship just before the Gujarat elections … let them explain this first … the people of Bengal are smart enough to understand BJP’s gimmicks.”