Citizenship to 14 through CAA is a ploy to reap political milage: Mamata

Gopiballavpur: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee mounted an accusation towards the Narendra Modi government of “orchestrating a lie” about the implementation of the citizenship amendment act and allotted citizenship for 14 people which is a mere “politics during the polls”.

Speaking at back-to-back election rallies in Gopiballavpur and Daspur, Banerjee said “those granted citizenship will be thrown behind the bars by branding them as foreigners.”

Accusing a section of the media of publishing advertisements with photographs of the Prime Minister that boast about the achievements of the BJP government at the Centre without proper attribution, Banerjee said, “The BJP is publishing advertisements with false information. One such advertisement says that migrant Hindu and Sikh communities can apply for citizenship under the CAA. Please don’t believe them, you (the electorate) are all already bona fide citizens. If you apply, you will be driven out by being branded as a foreigner.”

“I have nothing against journalists, but how come the authorities of those publications allow such advertisements to be carried without any check,” she said. Banerjee said the entire thing is a lie orchestrated by the BJP, just as they did in Sandeshkhali, where purported videos have emerged claiming that BJP workers had hatched a conspiracy to malign the TMC government in Bengal.

“The entire thing is a lie orchestrated by the BJP just as they did in Sandeshkhali. I urge my Matua brothers and sisters to not fall for it. This is falsehood and only a part of the politics before the elections. After the polls are over, people will be expelled from their homes and put in jails. Do not trust the BJP,” she said.

The first set of citizenship certificates under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was issued on Wednesday to 14 people, nearly two months after rules under the contentious law were notified to grant Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from three neighbouring countries. This comes in the midst of the general elections which started on April 19.

The last phase of polling will be held on June 1 while the counting will take place on June 4. The CAA was enacted in December 2019 for granting Indian nationality to persecuted Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

Source: PTI