West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday lashed out at the BJP-led central government over the amended Citizenship Act, saying she would not allow its implementation in the state “under any circumstances”.
The TMC supremo announced a series of protests programmes across the state against the act and said the saffron party can’t bulldoze the states to implement the law.
“We will never allow the NRC exercise and Citizenship Act in Bengal. We will not implement the amended Act, even though it has been passed in Parliament. The BJP can’t just bulldoze the states to implement it,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee has also cancelled her visit to Delhi to attend a meeting on the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi.
“The Citizenship Act will divide India. As long as we are in power, not a single person in the state will have to leave the country,” the chief minister added.
Referring to the Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s scheduled visit to Assam, Banerjee said it would be a “blot” on the country’s reputation if he scraps the plan, amid protests over the Citizenship Act across Northeast.
According to a media report in Japan’s capital Tokyo, Abe is might cancel his three-day trip to India for annual summit talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, from December 15-17, due to the deteriorating security situation in Guwahati, the planned venue of the meeting.
PTI
