TMC is 'Team B' of BJP, claims Congress leader

Dubbing the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) as 'Team B' of the BJP, opposition Congress and the CPI(M) on Thursday claimed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee "deliberately" obstructed the passage of an anti-citizenship bill resolution in the Assembly.

Addressing a press meet here, on the premises of the Assembly, Congress leader Abdul Mannan said the demand by the two opposition parties for a resolution against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) was turned down by the ruling TMC in an "arbitrary manner".

"Never in the past has any ruling party done this... If they (TMC) are serious about their opposition to the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), what prevented them from passing the resolution? It shows they have become 'Team B' of the BJP," Mannan said after attending a one-day special session in the House.

He claimed that the opposition parties had followed all norms to move the resolution against the amended citizenship law and held necessary discussions with Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay, "but the TMC said it cannot be taken up, as the CM had already discussed the matter in September in state legislature. Was the CAA passed in September?"
Referring to the draft of the resolution, which the opposition had wanted to discuss in the Assembly on Thursday, Mannan said, "Nowhere in the document we have said anything against the state government. We were even ready to make changes in the draft if asked to."