Kolkata 11 Dec: At a time when the BJP has employed a two-pronged strategy to win votes in the state, the one through Governor Jagdeep Dhankar and the other the Citizenship Amendment Bill coupled with NRC, the Trinamool Congress having seen through the strategy has taken a counter strategy to meet the challenge.
In the past couple of months, the tiff between Governor and the West Bengal government has reached to such an extent that it has resulted in a constitutional crisis, with the Speaker of the Assembly being forced to adjourn the Assembly for two days as few Bills which required Governor’s consent is yet to be get that.
The slugfest reached a crescendo and the Trinamool Congress MLAs staged a walkout at the Assembly on Tuesday claiming that Governor has to provide an apology as he has deliberately stopped the Bill from passing. Even the Trinamool Congress in the Rajya Sabha has also demanded that Dhankar be removed and a new governor be appointed in his place.
This has led Dhankhar to react on Tuesday. At a press conference, he said that after reviewing the West Bengal State Commission for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Bill 2019, he sent some questions to the Speaker regarding the necessity of the Bill as the Union government has already approved the SC/ST Reservation Bill.
Dhankhar said: “I am vigilant about the rights of the people. Those who are saying that Governor has not let the Bill pass in the Assembly, they are trying to shed crocodile tears. They are not at all concerned about the rights of the SC/ST. I have written a letter to the Speaker of the Assembly presenting my point of view and why the state government sat on the Bill for four days from 25 to 29 November. I am urging the state government not to politicise any issue by keeping the Governor on the forefront and also not mislead the people.”
Reacting to Dhankhar’s statement, Partha Chatterjee state parliamentary affairs minister, said: “If the confidential letter has been sent to the Speaker of the Assembly, is it necessary for the Governor to divulge the details without speaking with the state government officials. We still do not know what prompted him not to sign the Bill. The SC/ST Reservation Bill has already been passed in 12 states, including Rajasthan.”
On the other hand, with the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill tabled on the Parliament, and with the heated debate going on inside the Parliament till midnight yesterday, the TMC has also geared up in West Bengal and under its leadership the Matua Mahansangha Committee has convened a rally at Dharmtala in Central Kolkata claiming to oppose the CAB if it is passed in the Parliament.
Jyotipriyo Mullick, TMC leader, said: “We will continue our protest and will unitedly fight against the NRC and Citizenship Amendment Bill. Who is a refugee? We are yet to get a clear picture on this. We have seen that there are many people whose ancestors stay in East Pakistan now Bangladesh, but they were born in West Bengal. How can he/she be given another citizenship as they had already obtained their citizenship owing to their birth? We will not allow anyone to turn refugee overnight and we will continue our protest.”
The TMC has also decided to convene rallies in various districts in the upcoming week to will urgue people to unite and oppose the NRC and the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019.
On the other hand, the BJP has already decided to visit each and every household in the districts and the karyakartas will provide an overall view of the NRC and the CAB so that people are be misled by other political parties. The karyakartas will also take tutorials if necessary. The BJP Karyakartas have already decided to distribute leaflets to every residents in the districts to remove confusions regarding CAB.
Here is a copy of the leaflet that was sent by BJP Karyakartas to various residents in the districts of Bengal.
Dilip Ghosh, state BJP president: “The TMC is trying to mislead people on the NRC and the Citzenship Amendement Bill and once the Bill is passed in the Parliament our karyakartas will go to every house in the districts and will clarify all the doubts of the people as far as the CAB and the NRC are concerned.”
Here is a tweet from Ghosh’s speech in the Parliament.
Trinamool Congress chief, Miss Mamata Banerjee, on Monday has said that not a single citizen will turn refugee and they will not allow the NRC and the CAB to be implemented in the state.
On Monday, she said: “We will not allow anyone to depot any person from the country. No NRC, no division. No divide and rule. Nothing is bigger than the country. People can have big political slogans. CAB and NRC are the two sides of the same coin. We all are citizens of India and we all vote. We all have ration cards, school certificates.”
Although the TMC also abstained from voting in the Parliament in the contentious CAB, the ruling BJP has already got majority support and the Bill is slated for presentation in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.