Amit Shah silent on CAA, NRC during visit to Assam: TMC's Abhishek Banerjee

Reacting to the Shah's remark that the West Bengal government is not cooperating with the Centre to tackle the infiltration issue, Banerjee said that the Home Ministry should safeguard their borders

Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday said that Home Minister Amit Shah maintained silence over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) during his two-day visit to Assam, however, he announced the plan to implement CAA in West Bengal.

He alleged that the CAA is being 'used' by the BJP leaders as a carrot on a stick. "CAA is a political tool and we should not get into this trap," Banerjee said while addressing a public event here. The TMC General Secretary said that the Home Minister had varied on the CAA in West Bengal and Assam. "This is a testament to the kind of politics that the BJP-led government is doing. They are using this issue as a 'Jumla'. The Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha in 2019 and within a month, it came to force and became CAA. You usually need 3-4 months to formulate the rules of a new Act, but it has been more than two and half years and the centre has sought six extensions but is still unable to form the rules of the CAA," said the TMC leader. He also said that his party will continue to oppose the CAA and termed it a "draconian bill". "We oppose this draconian bill. In West Bengal, Amit Shah said that the CAA will be implemented after the COVID-19 pandemic is ebbed. In Assam, he is mum on the issue. This hypocrisy of the Union Home Minister is now out in the open. How can those people be termed illegal who voted you (BJP) in power? In Assam, the NRC list was prepared after spending Rs 1600 crore and in the NRC list around 19 lakh, people were excluded. It is a botched up list," he added. Reacting to the Union Home Minister's remark that the West Bengal government is not cooperating with the Centre to tackle the infiltration issue, Banerjee said that the Home Ministry should safeguard their borders.

"It is the responsibility of the Border Security Force that comes under the Home Ministry. I would be happy to see if they can put any information on the Bengal government's non-cooperation in this matter," said Banerjee. "Some people say Hindus are in danger and some others say Muslims are in danger. But, I will say, take off your spectacles of communalism, you will see that it is India, that is in danger," he added. Speaking about next year's assembly polls in Tripura, and Meghalaya, the TMC leader said that the TMC will take BJP head-on in both the states. "We have become the primary opposition in Meghalaya and Tripura too we have started our unit where we contested the local body elections to the best of our ability. Next year, when we go to the polls, TC will put its entire might to make sure that, we can defeat the autocratic forces. We are not in Assam to replace anyone. We will visit every people with our vision of the development of the state and make sure that the ideology of TMC reaches every people. We will do everything possible to oust the corrupt BJP government from power in Assam," he said. The TMC General Secretary on Wednesday visited the historic Kamakhya temple and offered his prayer to Goddess Kamakhya. He also addressed a party workers' meeting held at ITA Machkhowa and inaugurate the party's Assam unit office.