We won’t allow NRC in Bengal: Trinamool Congress

Kolkata: Slamming BJP President Amit Shah for claiming that the Narendra Modi government will implement the NRC in Bengal if it returned to power, the Trinamool Congress on Friday said it would not allow any such move.

“First and foremost, they (the Modi government) won’t come to power. They will rather be evicted from everywhere they are in power. But they are speaking in different voices on the National Register of Citizens (NRC) issue,” said Trinamool General Secretary Partha Chatterjee.

“Somewhere they say they will introduce the NRC. And then again they go somewhere else and say they won’t go for NRC. They should first decide what they are going to do,” he said.

Addressing an election meeting in West Bengal’s Alipurduar, Shah had also said they would smoke out all infiltrators from the state.

Chatterjee said it was the Trinamool’s declared policy not to allow the NRC and resist any attempts to drive out Indian citizens from the country.

“They are trying to drive out Indian citizens, and divide the society for a few votes, but people of Bengal as also from other states, will resist them,” he said.

Another Trinamool leader and Bengal minister Firhad Hakim said so long party supremo and state chief minister Mamata Banerjee was alive, the BJP would not be able to bring the NRC.

Ridiculing Shah’s claim that the BJP would win 23 of the 42 seats in the state in the coming Lok Sabha polls, Chatterjee doubted whether the saffron outfit can win a single seat.

“He (Shah) has very limited knowledge about Bengal. He needs to be given a book of the state’s geography. He is trying to boost up party workers, so that they don’t leave the party,” Chatterjee added.

Responding to Shah’s assertion that “time is up for the Trinamool”, Chatterjee said: “Let them say that in 2021 (when the state would hold assembly polls). But before that, let them cross the hurdle of 2019 general elections. they will be finished in 2019.”

Chatterjee alleged that the BJP wanted to “hinder” Bengal’s development and “disturb” its peace, culture and integrity for the sake of politics and power.

 Published on: Mar 29, 2019 at 19:38 IST

IANS