Hours after Union Minister Shantanu Thakur claimed that Citizenship Amendment Act was going to be implemented in a week's time Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee jabbed back saying elections are such big liability on the BJP that they have to "dig out" skeletons of "redundant" issues like CAA or National Citizenship Register.
"Suddenly as the elections are approaching the BJP has again started shouting CAA and NRC … my question is what CAA? What new things are there in CAA? All people who have their names in electoral rolls, are giving votes, have ration cards and getting their getting, have land patta are already citizens of India … this is because we have already given citizenship to them through these facilities … there is nothing that can take that from them," Banerjee said alleging "the BJP has dug up a redundant issue once again as they are used to doing this before the elections."
Alleging that the Centre was getting the Border Security Forces to issue identity cards to people living along the borders Banerjee said, "the BSF is an oppressive force … they always torture the villagers … now they are giving fake identity cards … don't accept that card because then you will be entrapped … if you take those cards then you will come within the fold of CAA… I will see how they can force CAA in Bengal … till I am there … there will be no CAA, no NEC in Bengal … I will not let this take place in Bengal which is a peaceful State."
Attacking the Centre for trying to browbeat the Opposition parties Banerjee said how the BJP had been threatening the opposition parties with ED and CBI. "They are calling up and saying that they will send ED and CBI o their houses if they do not join the saffron parties," Banerjee said adding how the BJP was using religion to polarize the country before the elections.
She also alleged that the opposition States like Bengal were not being paid their dues. Warning that if the dues were not cleared soon she would start sit-in movements Banerjee said, "they have looted funds from here but not paying back our rightful dues in MNREGA, PM Housing schemes and so many other projects … now I say if they do not clear the dues then I will start a dharna."
The Chief Minister who was in a seven-day tour of North Bengal was addressing an administrative rally at Cooch Behar. Earlier, Union Minister Thakur had told a rally in South 24 Parganas CAA was a reality and would take place soon. "I can assure the people that in next seven days CAA will be implemented … it will be implemented not only in Bengal but also in the other parts of the country."
Before him another Union Minister Nisith Pramanik had said that CAA would soon be implemented and that "the refugees who have come from the neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan etc will no longer have to remain aliens as they will be given citizenship through CAA."
Other opposition parties like the Congress and the Left immediately called the verbal duel between the BJP and the TMC a ploy to polarize the voters ahead of the elections.
"These are cunning creatures … but the people of Bengal have caught their cunningness … they had been polarizing the voters along communal lines for the past two elections in order to cloak and hide the other issues like unemployment, price rise, corruption, law and order … so they are trying to divide the people and rule … but that will not happen this time round," CPI(M)'s central committee member Sujan Chakrabarty said.