Bengali Refugees: All of them to get Indian citizenship
Kick-starting the BJP's campaign in West Bengal, party chief Amit Shah yesterday said all Bengali refugees will be granted citizenship with the passage of the Citizenship Bill.
Speaking at a rally in Malda, Amit Shah took on the ruling Trinamool Congress and said the upcoming Lok Sabha elections will be for restoring democracy in the state.
"I want to assure that all the Bengali refugees will be given citizenship under the Citizenship Bill. The TMC government has done nothing for the refugees but we will give them citizenship," he said.
Taking a jibe at the rally of opposition parties in Kolkata, he said the anti-BJP parties did not utter 'Bharat Mata ki jai or 'Vande Mataram' even once during the public meeting, but kept chanting 'Modi Modi'.
He alleged that the 'mahagathbandhan' of opposition parties was meant for "gaining power and serving personal interests".
"Mahagathbandhan is all about greed and lust. They want to remove Modi, while we want to remove poverty and corruption," he said.
Describing the Trinamool Congress dispensation as a "government that facilitates murders", he said the party will be ousted in the general elections.
India's opposition parties on Saturday drew half a million supporters to Kolkata's streets for the largest show of force yet against Modi as a national election looms.
Police in the eastern city said 500,000 people turned out for the massive "Unite India" rally, which saw leaders from across the opposition spectrum rail against Modi and his ruling Hindu nationalist party.
Speeches were beamed on 20 giant screens to a sea of spectators waving the national tricolour flag and the banners of India's myriad opposition movements. Police said 5,000 officers were on standby for security.
"The Modi government is past its expiry date," said Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal state, from an enormous raised platform.
Comments