Trinamul national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Friday claimed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which came into force earlier this month, was another instance of the BJP's "jumla (false promises)" and urged people not to fall into the trap.
"Ahead of the election, they have come up again with the CAA. The law was passed in 2019 and they (BJP) took five years to frame the rules. This is yet another jumla. If you go through the CAA notification, 38 pages out of 40 consist of forms. People have been asked to fill up the forms without any detail and clarity," Abhishek said at a rally in East Burdwan's Katwa on Friday.
The Diamond Harbour MP referred to Calcuttan Debasish Sengupta, 37, who committed suicide over CAA apprehensions.
"A youth in Ward 98 of Calcutta committed suicide because he thought he did not have the relevant papers," Abhishek said. "Because of this CAA, 12 lakh Hindu Bengalis in Assam fell prey to the NRC."
“Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of the BJP-ruled state, did nothing for them,” Abhishek added.
A Trinamul insider said Abhishek’s appeal not to apply for citizenship status at a rally in East Burdwan assumed significance as Aadhaar cards of a few thousand refugees in the district were recently deactivated.
“The presence of refugees, especially from the Matua community, in East Burdwan is not negligible. Many are confused about whether they should or should not apply for citizenship status,” said a Trinamul leader in East Burdwan.
A Trinamul source said the party had decided to campaign in refugee-dominated Nadia and North 24-Parganas, urging people not to apply on the CAA portal as it was a “BJP poll gimmick”.
Abhishek claimed that people who applied for rural homes under the PMAY would get the first installment of funds within this year from the state government.
