'Centre to give citizenship to refugees if Mamata govt doesn't'

Kolkata: Virtually throwing a challenge to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, BJP General Secretary in-charge of the state Kailash Vijayvargiya said on Thursday the Central government would grant citizenship to the refugees from three neighbouring nations if the state government fails to do so.

"The Parliament has passed a legislation (Citizenship Amendment Bill). And now the state government should grant citizenship to these people. If the state government doesn't perform its responsibility, and Mamata Banerjee out of her ego tries to deprive these people of their right to citizenship, the Centre will definitely invoke its powers to grant them citizenship.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah will ensure that these people get their rights. But Mamata should remember that personal ego cannot take the state forward," Vijayvargiya told mediapersons here.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who have entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

Calling the passing of the CAB a "big day for political change" in the state, Vijayvargiya said, "It is the victory of the BJP, the Matuas, Namashudras and Rajbhangshis, all the displaced persons who had come to Bengal as refugees."

At the same time, he said it was also the "biggest defeat" for Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress.