Poonam Mahajan asks Mamata Banerjee to clear stand on infiltration issue

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee addresses during Youth Trinamool Congress rally at Damurjala Stadium in Howrah district of West Bengal on Friday. PTI

Accusing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of making a U-turn on the infiltration issue, BJYM president Poonam Mahajan today urged the Trinamool Congress not to politicise issues related to national security.

Mahajan made the statement ahead of BJP president Amit Shah's rally, organised by the Bharatiya Janata Yava Morcha (BJYM), in Kolkata this afternoon.

"She has made U-turn on the issue of infiltration. She should first answer why she has made a U-turn on this issue. We feel TMC should stop politicising issues related to national security," Mahajan told reporters here. Alleging that democracy is under threat in West Bengal, Mahajan said TMC was desperately trying to stop BJP workers from reaching the venue of Amit Shah's rally.

"Our workers are being attacked on a daily basis. Since yesterday we have reports that our workers are being assaulted and stopped from coming to the rally," she said. "It is really painful to see how democracy is being brutalised in the state under TMC rule," she said. Banerjee has come down heavily on the Assam National Register of Citizens.

However, according to Union Minister Arun Jaitley, Banerjee had in 2005 had stated in the Lok Sabha that “The infiltration in Bengal has become a disaster now... I have both the Bangladeshi & the Indian voters list. This is a very serious matter.