Mamata Banerjee on Monday promised to oppose the amended citizenship law even before the Narendra Modi government had officially notified its implementation, signalling she would make it a key campaign plank for the Lok Sabha polls.
Mamata held a news meet at Nabanna and questioned the timing of the government’s move as it became clear the Union home ministry was about to notify the rules for implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
“Whenever elections approach, they start feeding information through (television) news channels and then actually bring it before the people,” Mamata said.
“The channels have been running (news saying) the CAA will be implemented by tonight. Why now? Citizenship will not be given to anyone in two-three days.”
The Bengal BJP went on a media blitzkrieg, thanking the Prime Minister and vowing to ensure the CAA’s implementation in the state.
Mamata attributed her advance news conference on the subject to requests from journalists, and promised a thorough statement of Trinamul’s stand when she addresses a public event in Habra on Tuesday.
“This is yet another of their (BJP’s) lollipops ahead of elections, something to try and lure voters with,” she said. “After numerous delays across four years, the law’s implementation days before the election announcement shows that it is being done for purely political reasons.”
Mamata has been a vociferous critic of the CAA since its passage in December 2019, vowing not to let the BJP government rob anyone in Bengal of their citizenship through the new citizenship matrix that includes the feared National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The CAA is an emotive issue for the Matua community in Bengal, which had sided with the BJP in the 2019 general election on the strength of a promise to have it enacted and implemented.
Matuas determine the electoral outcome in at least two Lok Sabha seats in south Bengal.
While Mamata has been trying her best to win back the Matuas, her priority would be to maximise support from Muslims, who form about 30 per cent of the Bengal electorate. Muslims have a substantial presence in 13 of its 42 Lok Sabha constituencies.
“If there is any discrimination, we will not accept it. Be it on the basis of religion, caste or linguistic parameters,” the chief minister said.
“Why were Aadhaar cards of Matuas cancelled? This means they are doing something new to replace old laws…. The Prime Minister was elected on the basis of votes cast by such people, so how can they not be citizens already?”
Implying that the CAA was a precursor to introducing an NRC update, she said: “We will protest strongly, we will not accept the NRC in any circumstance.”
Mamata alluded obliquely to Assam, where 19 lakh people find themselves outside the final NRC, and of whom only 5.5 lakh are Muslim.
“We will not allow anybody to put people in detention camps. This is just a way of deceiving the people. Everybody who lives in India and Bengal is already an Indian citizen. This new law must not snatch old, existing rights,” she said.
“Along with Bengal, the entire Northeast is very sensitive. We don’t want the BJP to set any traps to foment unrest. I know why they (the BJP) chose to do this just ahead of (the Islamic holy month of) Ramzan.”
Top state BJP leaders countered the Trinamul narrative. “It (CAA) is aimed at giving citizenship, not taking away citizenship. The chief minister is trying to confuse people,” BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya told the media.