The Trinamul Congress rejected Union Home Minister Amit Shah's statement on Wednesday that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) would be implemented as a "jumla before Lok Sabha polls," asserting that the Mamata Banerjee government would never permit its implementation in the state.
Shah, addressing a mega rally in the metropolis and virtually launching the BJP's Lok Sabha campaign, accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of opposing the CAA for political gain.
He emphasized that the implementation of CAA in the country is unstoppable, while launching a scathing attack on Banerjee for issues such as appeasement, infiltration, corruption, and political violence, alleging that she has "destroyed" the state.
Senior TMC leader and West Bengal minister Shashi Panja said, "Amit Shah had nothing new to say. He speaks about CAA, whereas Mamata Banerjee has clearly stated multiple times that CAA will not be implemented in the state." Panja highlighted that despite the passage of CAA four years ago, it has received nine extensions only to formulate its rules.
She criticised the BJP for raising the CAA issue during elections, claiming that it takes a backseat once the polls are over. "This is another election bluff as Lok Sabha elections are round the corner," Panja remarked.
TMC state spokesperson Kunal Ghosh accused the BJP of diverting attention from its unfulfilled promises of 'Acche Din' (Good Days) by consistently bringing up issues like Ram Mandir and CAA.
"This is a another Jumla before elections," he said.
Ghosh questioned Shah's remarks on corruption within the TMC, citing the swift action taken against arrested TMC leader Partha Chatterjee in the SSC scam.
"Today Amit Shah Ji said we have not taken any action against arrested TMC leaders. Probably he should get his facts corrected, we had suspended Partha Chatterjee within six days," Ghosh asserted.
He also challenged the BJP to take action against corrupt leaders within their party.
While the TMC took action against Chatterjee, it has yet to address the cases of Anubrata Mondal and Jyoti Priyo Mullick, who were arrested by central agencies in connection with a cattle smuggling scam and ration distribution scam.
In a point-by-point rebuttal against Shah's allegations of allowing infiltration, the TMC criticised the Home Minister's remarks as "baseless." Panja pointed out that the responsibility for guarding borders lies with the BSF, under Shah's ministry, and if there are any blame-worthy actions, they should be directed at the border security forces.
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