Do you have no faith in institutions in India, Sitharaman asks Mamata Banerjee

Responding to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who sought a UN-monitored referendum on Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and NRC, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she is saddened by the demand.

“I am very surprised that Mamata Banerjee has spoken about UN. India's stated position even in bilateral matters is to sought it among ourselves,” the finance minister told news agency ANI.

Further, she said India never wanted a third party or an international forum to interfere in the country's affairs. “Here, on a completely domestic matter, the chief minister has chosen to ask for UN? Does she have no faith in institutions in India? Parliament, courts, does she have no faith in them,” asked Sitharaman.

It is totally unacceptable for an elected chief minister to say that an international organisation will have interfere in a domestic matter, the finance minister further said. "I utterly condemn her statement....And it is utterly irresponsible of a chief minister to talk like that," she added.

Challenging the Modi government to go for a UN-monitored referendum over the amended Citizenship Act and the NRC, Banerjee had said on Thursday that the BJP will have to quit if it fails such a "mass vote".

Union minister G. Kishan Reddy too had lashed out at the West Bengal chief minister saying "Mamata Benerjee is irresponsibly seeking the involvement of the United Nations. This is inviting foreign countries to interfere in our affairs."

"I don't know why she is making such irresponsible comments as the chief minister of a state," PTI quoted him as saying.