‘Modi can’t decide who will leave’: Mamata attacks PM on citizen register

The National Register of Citizens has been a contentious issue with over 4 million of the 32.9 million people in Assam were left out of the NRC draft, released on July 30 last year.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee sharpened her attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday and claimed that he will do everything to “defy Constitution” if BJP is re-lected.

On the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Mamata said Bengal will oppose it tooth and nail.(AP file photo)

The Trinamool Congress chief said that Modi has failed to keep his promises. “Chaiwallah, who failed to fulfil promises, has now turned into a chowkidar to fool masses,” news agency PTI quoted Mamata as saying at a rally in Bengal’s Coochbehar.

On the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Mamata said Bengal will oppose it tooth and nail. “We will never allow NRC in Bengal. Modi is no one to decide who will stay and who will leave,” she said.

The National Register of Citizens has been a contentious issue with over 4 million of the 32.9 million people in Assam left out of the NRC draft, released on July 30 last year.

Mamata had lashed out at Centre over the NRC draft and claimed it was a conspiracy to evict Bengalis and Biharis from Assam. “We are worried because people are being made refugees in their own country. It’s a plan to throw out Bengali speaking people and Biharis. Consequences will be felt in our state also,” she had said after the release of the list last year.

The Centre and the Assam government insisted that register is still a draft and that there is adequate recourse available to those not included.

The NRC, which was first prepared for Assam in 1951, is being updated at the insistence of the Supreme Court, although it has been a longstanding demand of most political organisations in the state.

The register is aimed at distinguishing the state’s citizens from illegal immigrants, mostly from Bangladesh. The first draft of the updated NRC, released on December 3, 2017 listed 19 million people.