The publication of the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam may have dominated national headlines on Monday, but curiously the action seems to be shifting to neighbouring West Bengal after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged the BJP had a plan to evict Biharis and Bengalis from Assam.
While the ruling TMC announced a team of leaders would be visiting Assam soon, the chief of the BJP in West Bengal declared his party would prepare an NRC in the state if it won power.
The TMC announced late on Monday an eight-member delegation of TMC MPs and state leaders would be visiting Assam on August 2 and 3 to assess the situation resulting from the exclusion of nearly 40 lakh people from the NRC draft.
"On August 2 and 3, a delegation comprising six MPs of the Trinamool Congress (Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Ratna De Nag, Nadimul Haque, Arpita Ghosh and Mamata Thakur), MLA Mohua Moitra and West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim will be visiting Assam," the TMC said in a statement.
West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Monday said the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be published in the state, on the lines of the one in Assam, if the saffron party was voted to power.
"If we (BJP) are voted to power in Bengal, then we too will implement the NRC in the state. We will send back the illegal immigrants to Bangladesh. Tough days are ahead, we will not tolerate any illegal immigrants in Bengal," Ghosh told reporters.
Those who will support the illegal immigrants will also be thrown out of the country, Ghosh said.
"The NRC in Assam is being implemented following the orders of the court [Supreme Court]. It was the Congress that had proposed the idea of the NRC. Now, they are speaking against it," Ghosh added.
Ghosh came down heavily on Banerjee for her comments against the NRC in Assam and said she should stop doing “vote bank” politics on each and every issue.
"Those who are inviting illegal immigrants and Rohingyas from the neighbouring country should not talk much about the integrity and security of the country," Ghosh said.
The Congress and the Left Front said Ghosh's comments reflected the "anti Bengali" mindset of the BJP.
"The NRC in Assam and Ghosh's statement prove that the BJP is an anti-Bengali party. The people of our state will never accept such a party. It will be a disaster for the entire country and our state," leader of opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Abdul Mannan said.
Left Front Legislature Party leader Sujan Chakraborty said, "The BJP is trying to bring in the culture of the Hindi heartland in Bengal. Who are they to tell the people of Assam that they are no longer citizens of India? They will do the same thing if they are voted to power in Bengal," he said.
(With PTI inputs)