BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Thursday slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her opposition to the "historic" Citizenship Amendment Bill, contending that she was afraid of "losing her minority vote bank".
Stressing that the legislation should not be confused with the NRC exercise, he said the bill was meant to protect minorities, and the register to weed out infiltrators.
"Due to her politics of minority appeasement, the bordering districts of West Bengal have become a hub if infiltrators. This bill wants to give citizenship to Hindu refugees in the country.
"Why does she have to oppose the historic bill? She is simply afraid of losing her minority vote bank," the senior BJP leader said.
The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday approved the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, completing the legislative procedure for giving Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
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