Kolkata, Nov 1 The Centre's decision to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christ from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who are currently residing in Mehsana and Anand districts in Gujarat, has triggered a political slugfest here in West Bengal.
While the anti-BJP forces have described it as an attempt to woo the voters of Gujarat ahead of the forthcoming Assembly polls there, state BJP leadership has described the move as a positive step to fulfill the long-desired citizenship dream of the people there.
According to the Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Dr Santanu Sen, when it was expected that the dates for the Gujarat Assembly polls would be announced along with that of Himachal Pradesh, the citizenship decision at this point of time makes it clear why the date of announcement was deferred.
"At the same time, the Morbi bridge collapse has been a great embarrassment for BJP. So, to cover that up, a fresh citizenship gimmick aimed at creating division among people was floated," Sen said.
State Congress president in West Bengal and veteran party Lok Sabha member Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that granting citizenship of refugees is a welcome move provided one particular community is not isolated in that process.
"Actually, the NRC and CAA are basically toys in the hands of BJP, which they float before every election and become silent on them after the elections are over. They tried a similar trick before the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections to polarise voters. Now they are doing the same in Gujarat," Chowdhury said.
The CPI(M) central committee member and the former leader of the Left legislative parties in West Bengal Assembly Sujan Chakraborty said that this citizenship decision by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs is the reflection of the fact that BJP leaders are tense before the Gujarat Assembly polls. "The Morbi bridge collapse has added to their tension. And to divert the attention of the people from that tragedy, this citizenship decision to create communal divide has been floated again," he said.
BJP's national vice-president and party Lok Sabha member Dilip Ghosh chose to defend the Centre's announcement. "The refugees who were minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan had been too keen to get Indian citizenship. All other parties have ignored their plea for long. Finally, when BJP is taking some positive steps on this count, they are opposing it. Actually, the opposition parties are opposing the plea of the refugees," Ghosh said.
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