KOLKATA: No Trinamool Congress worker will be granted citizenship, junior Union minister and BJP’s Bongaon candidate Shantanu Thakur said at a campaign rally, stirring up a fresh controversy with just a fortnight to go to the Lok Sabha polls.
Thakur was speaking at a street-corner campaign rally at Gaighata’s Panchpota near Sutia on Tuesday when he issued the warning.TMC vehemently condemned the statement as several party leaders spoke in retaliation against the central minister.
In a video clipping, circulated and shared widely on social media, Thakur was heard saying: “Don’t listen to Trinamool. You will only give a self-declaration and during physical verification of documents, you come and meet us and we’ll tell you what to do. None of you will lose your job or property. But don’t take Trinamool people along with you. We will not grant citizenship to a single Trinamool Congress man. Let Mamata Banerjee save you.”
Asked about this on Thursday, Thakur said he had said what he truly believed. “They are the ones who are opposing CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act). They have said that they don’t need citizenship and so they are opposing it. So why will we grant it to them? They should ask Mamata Banerjee to grant them citizenship under the 1971 law or as per their existing voter ID card,” Thakur said on the sidelines of an poll campaign.
TMC responded fast, asking Thakur if he had himself applied for CAA yet.
“His statements are often inconsistent and unreliable. He had said once the CAA portal opens, he would be the first to apply for citizenship. Our question is, has he applied? The answer is no. If the minister himself doesn’t trust the portal, what can innocent people do? He has acquired BJP’s divisive politics very well and hence making such statements,” said state education minister Bratya Basu.
In the video, Thakur said that even if BJP didn’t bring in NRC, what would happen to the people if NRC was brought in 200 years later and then people were herded out of the country like Rohingya.
“I don’t think the minister clearly understands the CAA rules and doesn’t know the difference between refugees and infiltrators. He is making such statements as he has deceived and misled a significant portion of the Matua community, who are now actively opposing BJP and intending to vote against them,” said Basu. His colleague Kunal Ghosh said: “After 200 years, BJP will be in the museum, so they should stop thinking about such a distant future.”
TMC’s Bongaon candidate Biswajit Das said Thakur was unfit to be an MP and Union minister. “An MP and Union minister cannot make such unconstitutional statements. BJP wants to play divisive politics and divide Bengal from the rest of India. How can he say that citizenship will depend on one’s political affiliation? And what is granting citizenship? All of us who have voter ID cards are citizens of India,” he said.
Thakur was speaking at a street-corner campaign rally at Gaighata’s Panchpota near Sutia on Tuesday when he issued the warning.TMC vehemently condemned the statement as several party leaders spoke in retaliation against the central minister.
In a video clipping, circulated and shared widely on social media, Thakur was heard saying: “Don’t listen to Trinamool. You will only give a self-declaration and during physical verification of documents, you come and meet us and we’ll tell you what to do. None of you will lose your job or property. But don’t take Trinamool people along with you. We will not grant citizenship to a single Trinamool Congress man. Let Mamata Banerjee save you.”
Asked about this on Thursday, Thakur said he had said what he truly believed. “They are the ones who are opposing CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act). They have said that they don’t need citizenship and so they are opposing it. So why will we grant it to them? They should ask Mamata Banerjee to grant them citizenship under the 1971 law or as per their existing voter ID card,” Thakur said on the sidelines of an poll campaign.
TMC responded fast, asking Thakur if he had himself applied for CAA yet.
“His statements are often inconsistent and unreliable. He had said once the CAA portal opens, he would be the first to apply for citizenship. Our question is, has he applied? The answer is no. If the minister himself doesn’t trust the portal, what can innocent people do? He has acquired BJP’s divisive politics very well and hence making such statements,” said state education minister Bratya Basu.
In the video, Thakur said that even if BJP didn’t bring in NRC, what would happen to the people if NRC was brought in 200 years later and then people were herded out of the country like Rohingya.
“I don’t think the minister clearly understands the CAA rules and doesn’t know the difference between refugees and infiltrators. He is making such statements as he has deceived and misled a significant portion of the Matua community, who are now actively opposing BJP and intending to vote against them,” said Basu. His colleague Kunal Ghosh said: “After 200 years, BJP will be in the museum, so they should stop thinking about such a distant future.”
TMC’s Bongaon candidate Biswajit Das said Thakur was unfit to be an MP and Union minister. “An MP and Union minister cannot make such unconstitutional statements. BJP wants to play divisive politics and divide Bengal from the rest of India. How can he say that citizenship will depend on one’s political affiliation? And what is granting citizenship? All of us who have voter ID cards are citizens of India,” he said.