Shipping and Ports Minister of State Shantanu Thakur’s statement that the CAA (the Citizenship (Amendment) Act) would be implemented across India “within a week”, has kicked off a political storm in West Bengal, which shares a long and porous international border with Bangladesh. The Trinamool Congress has come out strongly against the statement, saying it was aimed at “scaring people”.
Speaking at a BJP meeting in Kakdwip in South 24-Parganas, Thakur said: “I can guarantee that in the next seven days, the CAA will be implemented, not just in West Bengal, but across India,” Thakur said in Bengali.
Shantanu Thakur also took a swipe at the Trinamool Congress Government in Bengal headed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. “This Government tells you that if you have a voter and an Aadhaar card, you’re a citizen of this country and can register your votes. If that is the case, then why do I hear that thousands of people here have been deprived of their right to vote? The Chief Minister has to answer why they have been deprived,” the BJP leader said.
Now, Mamata Banerjee has hit back at Shantanu Thakur’s remarks, saying the BJP wants votes by “scaring everyone”. “They are shouting CAA. This is politics. We have given citizenship to everyone and the people in the border areas are getting everything. They are citizens, which is why they are allowed to vote,” the West Bengal Chief Minister said during her address in Cooch Behar in North Bengal which she is visiting as part of her five-day tour of the region.
She also asked the people of border regions not to accept the “identity cards” offered by the BJP, referring to the CAA.
“Don’t take the fake card. Tell them we have a voter ID card and an Aadhaar card. If you accept it, you will fall under NRC (National Register of Citizens),” Mamata Banerjee warned in Cooch Behar.
Trinamool Congress spokesperson and West Bengal Minister Shashi Panja also took on Shantanu Thakur for his comments, stressing that the State Government would “never allow the implementation of CAA in the region”.
“Shantanu Thakur should ask himself how confident he is about CAA’s implementation. He knows that CAA will not be implemented. They always say things to mislead people before elections,” she said.
Shashi Panja further said that Mamata Banerjee has already stated that CAA will not be implemented in Bengal as there is no need for the law. “They are already citizens of India. Even the BJP does not speak much about CAA. Shantanu Thakur knows what is happening is wrong. He must be feeling guilty,” she said.
Amit Shah had asserted that the BJP Government would implement the CAA and “no one can stop it”. His remarks were targeted at Trinamool Congress supremo and Mamata Banerjee, who has been staunchly opposed to the CAA.
During his speech in Kolkata, Amit Shah had also launched scathing attacks against Mamata Banerjee on the issues of infiltration, corruption, political violence, and appeasement and had urged people to dethrone her Government from Bengal and elect BJP in the 2026 Assembly elections.
He had also given a clarification on the intended beneficiaries, saying they have as much right to citizenship as anyone else.
Soon after the CAA was passed in both Houses of Parliament and received the President’s assent in 2019, Opposition parties had taken a strong stand against it and had launched massive protests all over India.
Barely weeks ago, while attending a festival of the Dalit Matua community that has been demanding it, at Thakurnagar in West Bengal’s North 24-Parganas district, the Union Minister of State for Home, Ajay Kumar Mishra, had claimed that the rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act would be framed by the Centre by March 30, 2024,
“I am assuring everyone here that members of the Matua community will not lose their citizenship. They are all safe. According to the latest information I have, the laws for CAA will be framed by March 30, 2024,” Mishra told a large crowd that gathered for the annual Ras Utsav.
He had also said that the online portal for the CAA was in place and the entire process would be digital. “The applicants will have to declare the year when they entered India without travel documents. No document will be sought from the applicants,” he had said.
