Will bring Citizenship Amendment Bill before NRC, says Amit Shah in Kolkata

Home Minister Amit Shah on October 1 said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre will bring the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) before bringing the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to West Bengal.

"I want to make it clear and tell the truth to the people of Bengal, I want to assure Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Christian refugees that the Indian government will not force them to leave the country," Shah, who was addressing a seminar on the contentious NRC and CAB in Kolkata, said.

"Those refugees that came to India, I want to assure them that the Citizenship Amendment Bill will be brought by the Narendra Modi government," Shah said, adding that the state's Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, is "spreading lies on BJP's stand on NRC".

"Every single refugee will get the right to become the PM of India, they will have the right to vote," Shah said, adding that Banerjee is protecting illegal immigrants for vote bank politics and the BJP will "not tolerate even a single illegal immigrant in our country".

Shah, who is also the BJP's national president, said the contribution of the people of West Bengal in electing the Narendra Modi government for the second time is "big".

"I want to assure you that the people of Bengal have expressed the wish for change. The BJP will form a government here," Shah said, adding that the reason West Bengal is a part of India is because of BJP ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee led a movement for it.

This is Shah's first visit to West Bengal since he assumed the office of the Home Minister earlier this year.

The seminar assumes importance as it was being held at a time when there have been 11 deaths in the state allegedly due to panic over implementation of NRC in West Bengal.

Hundreds are seen lining up at government and municipal offices in the city and across the state to collect their birth certificates and necessary documents to be in readiness should NRC be implemented in the state.

Shah had repeatedly said the NRC exercise will be conducted across the country and Banerjee-headed TMC government in West Bengal had avowed that the NRC exercise will not be allowed in the state.

Buoyed by its performance in the Lok Sabha polls where it bagged 18 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the saffron party is trying to expand its base by reaching out to the Durga Puja committees in the state.

As a part of it, the state BJP leadership had decided to ask Amit Shah to inaugurate a big-ticket community Durga Puja in the state, party sources said.

After consideration, the Salt Lake B J Block community Durga Puja was zeroed in for inauguration by Shah, they said.