Mamata dares BJP: Can't exceed 200 seats; vows to block CAA in Bengal

Krishananagar (WB), Mar 31 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday mocked the BJP's target of winning 400-plus seats in the Lok Sabha polls and challenged the saffron camp to win at least 200 constituencies.

Banerjee also asserted that she won't allow the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act in the state.

She cautioned people that applying for CAA would turn an applicant into a foreigner and urged them not to apply for it.

"The BJP is saying "400 paar", I challenge them to cross the 200 seats benchmark first. In 2021 assembly polls, they gave a call of 200 plus seats but had to stop at 77," she said.

"The CAA is a trap to turn legal citizens into foreigners. We would allow neither CAA nor NRC in West Bengal," she said while addressing her first rally in the election season after her injury earlier this month.

Banerjee, the TMC supremo, slammed the opposition bloc INDIA partners -- CPI(M) and Congress-- for "joining hands with the BJP" in West Bengal.

"There is no INDIA alliance in West Bengal. The CPI(M) and Congress are working for the BJP in Bengal," she said while addressing an election rally at Krishnanagar in support of TMC candidate Mahua Moitra.

"Our MP Mahua Moitra was maligned and expelled from the Lok Sabha as she was vocal against the BJP," she added. PTI