KOLKATA: Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said here today that the opposition, particularly the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC, is manufacturing false narrative about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and called upon the BJP Karyakartas, particularly in the State of West Bengal, to vociferously and consistently refute this false propaganda, which is an attempt by the TMC to mislead the innocent voters at a time when the election process is going on and the 5th phase polling is just three days away. Dr. Jitendra Singh was addressing a joint meeting of the Election Core groups of all the West Bengal Lok Sabha constituencies going to polls in the 5th phase on the 20th of this month. Also present in the meeting were National General Secretary Sunil Bansal, West Bengal State BJP President Dr. Sukanta Majumdar, State General Secretary (Organisation) Amitabh Chakraborty, National Secretary BJP Arivind Menon and all the other important National and State office bearers associated with the West Bengal election. At the outset, said Dr. Jitendra Singh, it needs to be emphasised loud and clear that CAA will not take away the citizenship of anybody but on the other hand, it will confer citizenship to those who deserve it but have so far been deprived of it. He also refuted Mamata Banerjee’s contention that she will not allow the CAA to be implemented in West Bengal and said that the State government can never stop CAA implementation because the matter is under the purview of the Central Government and the Union Home Ministry. Dr. Jitendra Singh further informed that on the 11th of March, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had notified the rules for the CAA where the people seeking citizenship under the Act can apply through a Portal. Refuting TMC’s false propaganda that anyone applying for Citizenship under the CAA will face problems, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, “the BJP Karyakartas should go out and assure the people that no one will face any trouble”, and further said that only yesterday the first lot of 14 people have been handed over the Citizenship Certificates under the CAA by the Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla. As a part of TMC’s appeasement policy and the Party’s effort to woo a certain section of vote bank on religious lines, Dr. Jitendra Singh alleged that the West Bengal Chief Minister and her colleagues are ready to make every compromise for electoral gains even if it ends up in injustice and discrimination against a large number of citizens. He said, CAA is intended to confer citizenship and a status of respect to those who faced religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, and were forced to take refuge in India. Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address during one of his election rallies in West Bengal recently, Dr. Jitendra Singh recalled that even the Prime Minister of the country was constrained to accuse the TMC leadership of opposing the implementation of CAA in West Bengal simply to keep its vote bank in good humour. With the next three phases of polling left in West Bengal, Dr. Jitendra Singh called upon the BJP Karyakartas to initiate a sustained campaign to defy the myth of falsehood which is being spread by the TMC leaders and its workers at every platform with a mischievous design.
