Centre has to withdraw citizenship bill: Mamata Banerjee

KOLKATA: Despite the PM’s appeal to the Trinamool Congress to support the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee reiterated her hard stance on the issue once again on Saturday.

“They [BJP-led Centre] want us to pass the Citizenship Bill. They are driving Bengalis out. Biharis and Nepalis are also being persecuted. Nearly 22 lakh Bengalis have been left out of NRC. We will not allow them to incite riots, we will not allow north-eastern states to burn, we will not allow sectarian violence. They have to withdraw the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill,” she said.

The PM addressed a rally in Durgapur where he said Trinamool Congress leaders were afraid of CBI probes into scams. “Didi, why are you afraid if you have not done any wrong? When I was in Gujarat (as CM), they (the CBI) interrogated me for hours. The UPA government in New Delhi made CBI do whatever it wanted. But I never thought of throwing CBI out of the state,” Modi said, accusing Trinamool of being a ‘Triple T’ party focusing solely on “Trinamool Tolabaji Tax”.

Banerjee reacted to PM Modi’s jibe , saying it was the pot calling the kettle black. “His political career started with Godhra riots. What happened to Haren Pandya? Victims of the 2002 riots have not got justice,” Banerjee said. “Just because he was questioned by CBI, everyone else has to be questioned too? His role in the riots was a known fact, hence he was questioned,” she said.

Saying that chit funds were created during the CPM-era in the 1980s, the CM hit back: “Why was no action taken till 2011? They have destroyed the country in the last four years.” Responding to the syndicate barb, Banerjee said: “He himself runs a syndicate of agencies. The death knell of his government has been sounded. The expiry date of the Modi government is here. He has ruled for five years with the help of CBI, IT and ED.”