Only non-BJP states targeted on CAA: Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata: Hitting back at Union home minister Amit Shah a day after he blamed her of lying on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked him to tell the “truth” to the nation about the CAA, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR).

The Trinamul Congress supremo not only wondered whether a person, once declared a foreigner, would be allowed to apply for citizenship through the CAA but also alleged that the Centre has been targeting non-BJP ruled states for the implementation of the CAA, NRC and NPR. She even branded the BJP as Chhupa Rustam to justify her argument that it drafted the three policies secretly to cover up its wrong decisions earlier.

Banerjee, who has been on a visit to the North Bengal, was addressing a rally at Chawkbazar in Darjeeling against the  CAA-NRC-NPR on Wednesday after leading a four-kilometre-long march in the hills.

“I saw how the Union home minister delivered a lot of sermons on Tuesday. He claimed we spread lies. If it is, you tell us what is the truth? Will a person be declared a foreigner first and then allowed to apply for citizenship in the CAA?”

The CM reiterated that the BJP-led Central government would have to “throw her out first” before driving out any person from the state.

She tried to convince the people of the Hills, mainly the Gorkhas, that the CAA-NRC-NPR would not be implemented in the state. Referring to Shah, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked, “Why is it not happening in Tripura? Why is it halted there? Is the number of Bengalis there less than us here?”

She pointed out, “It is halted there because it is their (BJP) state. Then why do you want to implement it in those states where the BJP is not power?”

She observed, “Such a situation has evolved in the country that you can not withdraw your money even if you have it in your bank account.”

The Chief Minister added, “To cover up the situation, they drafted this policy like Chhupa Rustam. But if and when we raise our voice, we are labelled as Pakistanis.”

She reasoned that all the states, except West Bengal, attended the NPR meeting, called by the Union home ministry , out of fear. “I asked why they had gone. Did they know what was written in it,” she noted.