Guwahati: All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) leader and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday pledged that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) would not be implemented if the INDI alliance, the multiple-party Opposition alliance led by the Indian National Congress (of which TMC is a member of), is voted to power in the Lok Sabha elections.
Addressing a public meeting at the Town Club playground in Silchar, Banerjee said, “We will not implement NRC and CAA if the INDIA bloc is voted to power. This election is going to be terrible as never before have we seen an election as corrupt as this,” Banerjee said.
One of the main promises in the AITC manifesto, it may be noted, is the removal of the Citizenship Amendment Act, which is crucial for Assam, a state that has always been sensitive over the issue of illegal migrants from Bangladesh.
Accusing the Modi-led government of being a ‘jumlebaaz’ government, she further hit out at the ruling party for “transforming the country into a prison” and “creating differences among sections of people for the sake of clinging on to power.”
“Today, no one has the freedom to speak against the government. People who speak against the government are invariably picked up and sent to jails by the administration,” the firebrand TMC leader said while addressing the poll rally on the same day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had addressed a public meeting in Nalbari to campaign for the ruling party ahead of the first phase Lok Sabha polls in the state.
“The BJP wants to create differences among people in the country for the sake of power. So, this Lok Sabha election will not be just like any other election but an election for protecting the country, democracy, and independence. This fight will not be against only BJP but also oppressive and undemocratic rule,” Banerjee asserted.
Notably, the AITC leader had arrived in the state on Thursday afternoon to campaign for her party’s candidate for the Karimganj Lok Sabha seat, Radheshyam Biswas.
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Banerjee further took potshots at the Modi government while referring to the ethnic violence in Manipur. “The situation in Manipur had turned from bad to worse but the BJP has been indifferent and insensitive to the violence-hit state and its people,” she alleged.
“You think Modi will give you justice? If you think you are dying now, you can believe that. But don’t even believe that Modi will do something for someone,” Banerjee said.
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