Kolkata: The Congress and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee do not have the guts to touch the Citizenship Amendment Act, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said today, assuring that all Hindu refugees will get citizenship under the new law.
Mr Shah was addressing a rally at Karandighi in Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district to bolster support for BJP candidate from Raiganj Kartik Paul. The Raiganj seat was won by the BJP in 2019. Trinamool has fielded Krishna Kalyani, an MLA, from the north Bengal seat. Raiganj votes in the second phase on Friday.
Mr Shah said the Bengal Chief Minister cannot stop infiltration into the border state. “Can Mamata Banerjee stop infiltration? She cannot. Only (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji can stop infiltration.”
“You gave us 18 seats last time. Modiji gave Ram Mandir. Give us 35 seats this time, we will stop infiltration,” he said.
The Home Minister also referred to the Sandeshkhali row, which has emerged as a big talking point in Bengal this election season. “In Sandeshkhali, Mamata Banerjee allowed women to be tortured so that her votebank is not affected. The High Court intervened and today the accused are in jail,” Mr Shah said. The island in Bengal’s North 24 Parganas had made national headlines after local Trinamool leaders were accused of land grab, extortion and sexual harassment.
Mr Shah also brought up the Calcutta High Court’s order scrapping about 25,000 appointments of government school staff over alleged irregularities. “Rs 10 lakh to 15 lakh were paid for each job. 51 crore rupees were recovered from (former Bengal minister) Partha Chatterjee’s home.”
“Mamata Banerjee came to power on the slogan of Maa, Maati, Manush. In Sandeshkhali, Maa was tortured, Maati was given to Bangladeshi infiltrators and Manush have been suffering due to corruption,” Mr Shah said. “Vote for BJP and Mamata Banerjee’s goondas will be hung upside down and straightened,” he said.
Accusing the ruling Trinamool of corruption, Mr Shah said, “Look at TMC leaders’ houses. Those who stayed in thatched roof houses today own four-storeyed houses, roam around in cars. This is your money.”
He also promised that the Centre will set up an AIIMS in north Bengal if the Narendra Modi-led BJP returns to power. “We had planned an AIIMS in Raiganj. Mamata didi blocked it. This is Modiji’s guarantee. Give us 30 seats, we will start work on north Bengal’s first AIIMS.”
In back-to-back rallies in Raiganj and Kumarganj yesterday, Ms Banerjee had claimed that the BJP is in panic mode after sensing defeat in the first phase of polling.
“Fear and panic have gripped the BJP. After the first phase of polling in nearly 100 seats across the country, they have sensed defeat. That is why they are making baseless statements. The rout of the saffron camp is only a matter of time,” she said. On Sandeshkhali, she said, “It is a ploy to malign us ahead of the elections.”
She also said she will not allow the citizenship law to be implemented. “The CAA is a trap to turn legal citizens into foreigners. Once you implement CAA, NRC will follow. We will allow neither CAA nor NRC in West Bengal. If you apply, you will be designated as a foreigner,” she said
