Caravan News
NEW DELHI — As the Trinamool has been extremely vocal against the NRC and has even taken to streets against it, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said she has clarified to Home Minister Amit Shah that NRC is not needed in West Bengal.
Mamata Banerjee met Home Minister Amit Shah in his North Block chambers and raised concerns over the National Register of Citizenship (NRC) that aims to identify genuine Indian citizens.
When asked whether the issue of NRC in West Bengal was part of the discussion with the Home minister, Banerjee said, “He (Shah) did not say anything about NRC in West Bengal. I have already clarified my stand that NRC is not needed in West Bengal,” reports IANS.
“I handed over a letter to him (Shah). I told him that of the 19 lakh people left out of NRC (in Assam), many are Hindi-speaking, Bengali-speaking and local Assamese. Many genuine voters have been left out. This should be looked into. I submitted an official letter,” she said while speaking to media in New Delhi.
While the Trinamool workers have even protested on roads against NRC, the state unit of the BJP though has demanded NRC in Bengal after the final list in Assam was out.
West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh had said if the party comes to power after the 2021 Assembly polls, it will pitch for NRC in the state.
Banerjee’s party though called it a “divisive” thing. TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee said, “Our party workers have vowed not to allow NRC in Bengal”.
The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a register maintained by the Government of India containing names and certain relevant information for identification of all genuine Indian citizens.
In Assam’s final document of the NRC, over 19 lakh didn’t find their names mentioned.
The West Bengal Chief Minister also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday after a spell of 15 months.
(With agency inputs)
