Political Faceoff: Mamata Banerjee Counters Union Minister's CAA Implementation Claim

DELHI: Union minister Shantanu Thakur on Monday said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) would be implemented in the country within a week. His remarks evoked a strong retort from West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee who accused the BJP of "crying CAA, CAA " for votes ahead of Lok Sabha elections

“I can give a guarantee of the implementation of CAA nationally. It will be implemented in all the Indian state’s including West Bengal within a week. You will all see that yourself. I am giving this guarantee from this dais,” the minister said while addressing a booth-conference of the workers of BJP in South 24 Parganas district on Monday. Thakur is a BJP MP from Bongaon.

The CAA was enacted by the BJP-led government at the Centre in 2019 and aims at granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.

Reacting to his remarks, Mamata Banerjee said the BJP always brings up the CAA issue before any election. "We have fought against the NRC. Rajbanshis are citizens of India. They have again started shouting CAA, CAA for the sake of votes," Mamata said

Political Faceoff: Mamata Banerjee Counters Union Minister's CAA Implementation Claim

The West Bengal chief minister said her government has acknowledged all colonies as "permanent addresses," and all residents who get the benefit of various state government benefits are citizens of the country.

"All of you are citizens. We have given permanent addresses to all colonies. They get ration, go to school, get scholarships, get Kisan Bandhu, Shikhashree, Oikoshree, Laxmir Bhandar. How could they get these benefits if they had not been citizens? Had they been able to cast votes if they were not citizens?" Banerjee questioned