Saffron BJP Picks NRC as Poll Plank for 2019 in Bengal,
KOLKATA : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Saturday made it clear that his party would fight the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal on the planks of National Register of Citizens (NRC) and illegal infiltration from Bangladesh.
Shah, who was addressing a rally organised by the BJP’s Yuva Morcha on Kolkata’s Mayo Road, said: “I would like to ask Mamata ji why she is protecting Bangladeshi infiltrators. Rahul Gandhi is also not clarifying his stand on this issue. They are raising their voice against NRC because these Bangladeshi infiltrators are their vote bank in Bengal. But we will not let this happen. We will go ahead with the NRC plan and push back each and every infiltrator.”
Amit Shah flashes the victory sign and said Mamata Banerjee should clarify her stand on the National Register of Citizens issue, says the BJP chief. Shah said that no matter “however hard Mamata Banerjee tries,” she cannot stop the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise in Assam and the government would ensure that the process wascompleted in a judicious manner.
“The Government of India will ensure that those who seek asylum will be allowed to stay here,” he said. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, brought by the BJP-led government has provisions to provide citizenship to Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians who have come from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
He referred to Ms Banerjee’s opposition to “illegal infiltration” in 2005 and alleged that she had taken a U-turn, as the “infiltrators” were now voting for the Trinamool Congress.“Mamataji, you will have to make your stand clear before the people of the State, whether you are for infiltrators or for national security,” he said.
The BJP chief gave a call to remove the Trinamool Congress from power in the State. “The BJP has governments in 19 States… These States do not matter as long as the party does not have a government in the land of its founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee,” he said.
People of Bengal, who had given a chance to the Congress, the Communists and the Trinamool Congress to form governments, should give an opportunity to the BJP to rule, he said.
Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress leadership observed a ”black day” in protest against the NRC and took out rallies in different parts of the State.
Earlier, some West Bengal Youth Congress workers on Saturday showed black flags as Mr. Shah stepped outside the airport in Kolkata ahead of his high-voltage rally in the city.
A group of bike-borne workers waved black flags before Mr. Shah’s convoy outside the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International airport and shouted slogans against him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before the police could remove them from the spot.
Ahead of Mr. Shah’s rally in central Kolkata’s Mayo Road, Trinamool Congress supporters observed a ”condemnation day” in parts of the State to raise the paety’s pitch against the publication of the draft NRC in Assam.
The Trinamool Congress termed Mr. Shah’s rally a “flop show” and refuted the charge that the TV coverage of his meeting was blacked out due to pressure from the ruling party.
Mr. Shah criticised the TMC for ”blacking out” the news channels that covered his programme. “You can black out channels, but our BJP workers will carry my message to every corner of the State,” he said at the rally.(With PTI Inputs ).
