NRC, Citizenship Amendment Bill only to divert attention from economic slowdown: Mamata Banerjee

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday accused the BJP-led central government of trying to divert attention of the public from the economic slowdown by taking up the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

“NRC and CAB two sides of the same coin. Will oppose both of them tooth and nail,” PTI quoted her as saying at a programme of the Trinamool Congress in Kolkata.

“NRC and CAB are being taken up to divert attention from economic slowdown,” said Banerjee who has consistently opposed both the NRC and CAB.

The government plans to introduce the CAB in Parliament next week. A copy of the bill which seeks to fast-track the grant of Indian citizenship to religious minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, was distributed among members of Parliament on Friday morning for them to study it.

The Bengal CM dug in her heels saying she will continue to oppose it.

“If you give citizenship to all the communities we will accept it. But if you discriminate on the basis of religion we will fight against it”, Banerjee said. “You (BJP) can pass CAB in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as you have majority. But we will not accept it and oppose it till the end.”

On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet cleared the draft legislation of the CAB which was a key election promise of the BJP.

It also set the stage for a parliamentary showdown with opposition parties that have called the move divisive.

According to the draft CAB, it will not apply to tribal areas under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which deals with autonomous tribal-dominated regions in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram and areas covered under the inner-line permit (ILP) regime, under which non-locals need prior permission before visiting these areas in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram.