‘Don't return without voting’: Mamata Banerjee's 'citizenship' warning migrants in Bengal for Eid

Lok Sabha elections: Mamata Banerjee has been opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act, calling it a trap to turn legal citizens into foreigners.

Published on: Apr 19, 2024, 16:36:15 IST

By HT News Desk

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Lok Sabha elections 2024: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday urged migrant workers present in their home state of West Bengal for Eid celebrations to vote in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections before returning to work. Addressing a public rally in Murshidabad, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo claimed that the BJP-led government would take away their Aadhar card and citizenship if they returned to power at the Centre, reported ANI.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addresses during a public meeting for the Lok Sabha polls, in Islampur, West Bengal on Thursday. (ANI)

“I would like to request all the migrant workers who have come here to celebrate Eid please don't go back without voting because if you don't vote in the coming days, they will take away your Aadhar card and your citizenship,” ANI quoted Banerjee as saying.

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Vehemently opposing the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the state, the chief minister said, “I will not let CAA be implemented here. I have not let NRC be implemented here. It was implemented in Assam, and so many people died.”

Expressing concerns over the potential ramifications of the Uniform Civil Code, which is part of the BJP's election manifesto, Banerjee warned, "Now they are also talking about UCC, do you know what will happen? All of you will lose your identity if they bring in UCC."

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Mamata Banerjee's request came at a time when three Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal – Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri (SC) and Alipurduars (ST) – were voting in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 19.

All three Lok Sabha constituencies were won by the BJP in the 2019 general elections. In the 2021 assembly polls, Coochbehar and Alipurduars remained BJP's stronghold with the party winning five of seven segments in the first and six in the second constituency. In Jalpaiguri, the TMC had the upper hand, winning five and the saffron party managed to win two.

With inputs from agencies

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