BSF 'managed' voters in BJP state head's LS constituency: Mamata

Raiganj/ Balurghat (WB), Jan 30 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday accused the BSF of “managing” voters standing in queue to vote during an election held earlier in Balurghat, the Lok Sabha constituency of BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar.

Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, also said that she would not allow anyone to take away the citizenship of people during her lifetime.

Her assertion came a day after Majumdar expressed optimism about implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"I have information that the BSF had managed voters' standing in queue during the last election held in Balurgat. Who gave them this authority?” she said at a public distribution programme at Balurghat in Dakshin Dinajpur district.

The election is the responsibility of the Election Commission, the DMs, and the SPs, Banerjee said.

"But if I hear similar incidents this year... then remember that elections will be over... but we will remain here… I want all people to vote. Even the migratory labourers must vote," she said.

The BJP wrested the Balurghat Lok Sabha seat in the northern part of the state from the TMC in the 2019 elections.

Earlier at a programme held in Raiganj in Uttar Dinajpur district, Banerjee expressed concern over reports that BSF is issuing identity cards to residents in border areas.

The chief minister directed the DMs to issue work permit cards for those who cross the border for work.

The TMC chief cautioned people against accepting such cards, labelling those as potential tools to get into an "NRC trap".

Banerjee also lambasted the BJP for allegedly bringing up issues like the National Register of Citizens (NRC), CAA and Uniform Civil Code ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

“This is nothing but politics. We have given citizenship to everyone (and) they (people in border areas) are getting everything. They are citizens, which is why they are allowed to vote," she said.

"But let me make it very clear that as long as I am alive, I will not allow implementation of NRC in West Bengal. I will not allow them to take away the citizenship of anyone... everyone here is a citizen," Banerjee said.

Earlier on several occasions, Banerjee has said her government won't allow implementation of CAA in the state.

Her latest remarks on the issue were prompted by BJP leaders such as Majumdar and Union minister Shantanu Thakur's recent assertion that the CAA would be rolled out across the country ahead of the parliamentary elections.

The CAA, enacted by the BJP-led government at the Centre in 2019, seeks to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim immigrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.

Reacting to Banerjee's statement, the state BJP said that the CAA is a law of the land and no one can stop it from being implemented.

"Why is she making confusing statements about NRC implementation? The Centre has never said anything about NRC implementation," senior BJP leader Rahul Sinha said.

Banerjee also alleged that people are not allowed to have non-vegetarian food in BJP-ruled states.

"In BJP-ruled states, they are not allowing people to eat eggs, fish and meat. They have even demolished shops using bulldozers in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh… But here, We have not taken away people's freedom of choice," she said.

The chief minister urged people to unite under the TMC’s banner to counter the alleged alliance formed by the Congress, CPI (M) and the BJP in the state.

"It is the TMC that is fighting for the rights of the people of the state. We all have to unite to defeat the Congress-CPI (M)-BJP nexus in Bengal," Banerjee said.

The TMC boss recently announced that her party will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal alone, and not as a part of the opposition bloc INDIA.

Banerjee stated that the central government has stopped clearing funds dues to West Bengal in various schemes.

"I have given them an ultimatum till February 1 and if they fail to clear the dues, I will hold a sit-in," she said. PTI