Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was the "actual motive" behind the contentious special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls by the allegedly compromised Election Commission of India under the saffron regime.
The chief minister took a pledge on Constitution Day to protect India's democracy.
Paying her tribute to B.R. Ambedkar's statue on Red Road, Mamata said India's hard-earned Independence came from the supreme sacrifice of countless people from (undivided) Bengal and Punjab, not those in power at the Centre today, a dig at the dubious role of the Sangh Parivar during the freedom struggle.
"Now, when democracy and religion are under attack, when questions are being raised on citizenship and voting rights, we have to ask ourselves, if we must now prove our citizenship. The NRC is working behind this... the actual motive. We are shocked, saddened. That is why I renew the pledge here today, to protect India’s democracy, which is the biggest,” Mamata told newspersons.
