Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday attributed Trinamul’s success in the bypolls to people’s fears about NRC and reiterated her pledge not to allow the exercise in Bengal.
“There will be no NRC in Bengal. We don’t want it even in the country. Their (the BJP) target is to divide Bengal… we will not allow it. Bengal is united against NRC. This mandate is against NRC,” Mamata said.
The chief minister was replying to questions after the Trinamul snatched Kharagpur (Sadar) and Kaliaganj — where the BJP had secured leads of more than 42,000 and 58,000 votes respectively — in this year’s Lok Sabha polls and retained Karimpur by increasing its lead over the general election.
The ruling party in Bengal had carried out an extensive campaign on NRC soon after the final NRC list was published in Assam on August 31, around three months after results of the Lok Sabha polls.
Trinamul used the issue to counter the BJP in areas where the BJP had achieved success in the state, pointing out that nearly 14 lakh Hindus were among the 19 lakh excluded from the NRC in Assam.
Fears over NRC in Bengal spread after top BJP leaders repeatedly declared that the exercise would be implemented in the state.
Explaining her opposition to NRC, Mamata on Thursday urged BJP leaders to stop scaring people in the name of the exercise. “Bengal is surrounded by Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. There are so many issues involved here. The Prime Minister, the home minister and the chief ministers have been elected through the votes of people across the country. One fine morning, it (NRC) cannot happen just because a political party has an agenda. I request the BJP leaders not to scare people in the name of NRC,” the chief minister said.
Mamata pointed out nearly 20 people had committed suicide in Bengal over NRC fears and urged the BJP to shed its “arrogance” on the issue.
“They (the BJP) think either their way or no way. This should not happen in a democratic structure. There are state highways and national highways in the democratic structure and both are important for the country. I request BJP leaders not to take any destructive step based on their political choice,” said the chief minister.
While giving credit to people of all religions, caste and creed for supporting her party in the by-elections, Mamata asked the Narendra Modi government to reconsider its policy decisions as people started rejecting the party within six months after the Lok Sabha polls.
The chief minister said the Centre had failed to meet the expectations of common people and it was the time for the BJP to listen to them.
“From Maharastra to Bengal, people have voted against you within six months after you received overwhelming majority in the Lok Sabha polls. This is because people’s hopes were hurt due to the rising unemployment problems, economic slowdown and disinvestments. Nobody is happy. You cannot do whatever you want. In a democratic set-up, you have to listen to what people say,” said the chief minister.
