Won’t allow Centre to drive out people under the garb of CAA, says Mamata

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asserted that her government would not allow the Centre to drive a single citizen out from Bengal in the pretext of implementing National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

“Why was the Centre cancelling Aadhaar cards? We have protested against the Centre’s move and assured our people that we will issue cards if their Aadhaar cards are deactivated. As the elections come closer, they (BJP-led Centre) will take up the CAA issue. People will become foreigners in their own country in 5 years. They will lose citizenship for a long time. If people are not the citizens of the country, how are they availing the benefits of Lakhsmir Bhandar, Swasthya Sathi and several other schemes of the Bengal government. We will not let the Centre drive out a single citizen from the state,” Banerjee said at the public distribution programme in Jhargram on Thursday. Incidentally, Union minister Shantanu Thakur had recently declared that CAA, is set to be implemented nationwide.

The Chief Minister also expressed her apprehension that the Centre may hike the price of LPG once the elections are over. “During elections, Delhi babus come to the state and make tall claims. They (Centre) are giving benefits of Ujjwala scheme secretly to some poor people. They provided the facilities of the scheme five years ago and later withdrew it. What is the price of LPG? We provide rice at free of cost.

They may again hike the price of LPG up to Rs 2000 if they win elections. They don’t love the people of Bengal,” Banerjee said. She once again demanded that the Centre should recognize Sari and Sarna Dharma. “We have urged the Centre to recognise Sari and Sarna as religions for Adivasis and Kurmis who worship nature. We will stage massive protests if the Centre does not do that,” she added.