KOLKATA: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah has made it clear that his party would fight the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal on the planks of National Register of Citizens (NRC) and illegal infiltration from Bangladesh. Addressing a rally organised by the BJP's Yuva Morcha on Kolkata's Mayo Road, Shah said, “I would like to ask Mamataji why she is protecting Bangladeshi infiltrators. Rahul Gandhi is also not clarifying his stand on this issue. They are raising their voice against NRC because these Bangladeshi infiltrators are their vote bank in Bengal. But we will not let this happen. We will go ahead with the NRC plan and push back each and every infiltrator.
“We should be worried for Bengal's Hindus and Muslims because there are no jobs for them. If we don't stop this infiltration, how will Bengal develop? The only solution to the problem is NRC but Mamataji is least bothered. She is raising her voice against NRC only for vote bank politics. The NRC is a national security issue and for the BJP, national security comes first and politics later.” He added, “In 2005, the same Mamata Banerjee raised her voice against Bangladeshis living illegally in Bengal. She raised her voice in Parliament because these people were the Left's vote bank. Now the same Bangladeshis are the TMC's vote bank and hence, she is raising her voice against NRC.”
Shah also asked, “I would like to know if national security is important for her or vote bank politics. Don't you think Bangladeshi infiltrators are a threat to India? Don't you think they should be dragged out of our country?” I am not against Bengal, but against the Mamata government. She made a huge issue over NRC. She even said this would lead to a civil war. I would like to clarify today that we are not going to stall the process of NRC. We will drag out each and every infiltrator from India,” Shah said.
