Amit Shah's Dare to CM Mamata at Kolkata Rally: 'No One Can Stop CAA Implementation'

Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said no one can stop the Narendra Modi-led central government from implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Launching a blistering attack against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who has opposed the law, he said she has been unable to stop “infiltration” across the state border.

“…In a state where there is so much infiltration, will development ever take place?… That’s why Mamata Banerjee is opposing CAA… But I would say that CAA is the law of the country, and no one can stop it… We will implement it…” he said while addressing a public rally in Kolkata’s historic Dharmatala with an eye on setting the tone for the BJP’s Lok Sabha campaign in the state.

On November 26, union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra had said the final draft of the CAA will be ready by March 30, 2024. He, too, was addressing a public gathering of the Matua community in Bengal, which had fled religious persecution in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Shah said Banerjee has been opposing the law but no one can stop its implementation, which has been in a limbo as the Centre is yet to frame its rules amid the opposition’s strong stand against the law. In a reference to the intended beneficiaries of the law, the home minister said they have as much a right to citizenship as anyone.

The CAA was passed by Parliament in 2020 and seeks to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan entering India before December 31, 2014.

Shah further said not only Banerjee, but even the previous CPI(M) government had done nothing for the development of Bengal. He said both regimes have “ruined the state of Bengal”. “Communists and Mamata Banerjee’s government have together ruined the state of Bengal. Figures as regards election violence stands the highest in Bengal on national levels. Also, Mamata has not been able to stop infiltration. Voter cards and Aadhaar cards are being openly and illegally distributed to infiltrators and she is silent!” he added.

In his speech, Shah attacked the chief minister on the issues of appeasement, infiltration, corruption and political violence and urged people to throw out her government and elect the BJP in the next assembly elections. Further, he said Banerjee has only caused deterioration in each and every aspect of Bengal.

The home minister lauded the turnout at the rally, and said it indicates the people’s mood. He claimed that the BJP will come to power with a two-third majority in the state in 2026. “The BJP’s performance in the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls will create the foundation of its win in the assembly polls,” he added.

In the previous assembly elections in 2019, the BJP had won 18 — its highest ever — of the state’s 42 seats.

(With PTI inputs)