Kolkata: West Bengal Assembly on Friday passed a resolution denouncing the NRC in Assam and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asserted that she will never allow such an exercise to ever take place in the state.
The resolution moved jointly by the ruling Trinamool Congress and opposition Congress and CPI(M) was passed by voice vote while the BJP boycotted it.
We will never let BJP implement the National Register of Citizens in West Bengal," Banerjee said at the Assembly during a discussion on the motion on the NRC which is a validation of Indian citizenship in Assam.
"The Assam Accord was signed during Rajiv Gandhi's regime so that peace and tranquility return to Assam. This was not acceptable to any other states," she said during the discussion on the motion under Rule 185.
She went on to add "I welcome Nitish Kumar's statement that they (his party the JD(U)) will also not implement NRC in Bihar".
The NRC in Assam was updated under the monitoring of the Supreme Court and the final list, published on August 31, excluded over 19 lakh applicants. The cut off date was March 24, 1971.
The BJP has often said it will implement the NRC in West Bengal and has accused Banerjee of opposing it for the sake of minority vote bank.
Banerjee said that in the final list names of genuine Indians, many of whom had fought for the country's independence, had been struck off.
The TMC supremo expressed her support for former prime minister Manmohan Singh's opinion that the Narendra Modi government should concentrate on the economic slowdown. "I echo the words of Dr Manmohan Singh ... They (BJP) must concentrate more on the economy than on political vendetta.
They are selling off Air India, banks and disinvesting in railways."
Urging the opposition parties to unite for a movement against the BJP-led government, Banerjee said she was saddened that nobody from the opposition parties were protesting against it.
"I feel sad that the opposition parties cannot formulate any movement ... I do not care what people tell me.
You can utter abuses against me but still I will stand for the greater interest (of the people)," she said.
