News Analysis India

Tag: CAA

  • Citizenship to non-Muslim refugees: SC to hear IUML’s plea after two weeks 

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it would hear after two weeks a plea challenging the Centre’s notification inviting non-Muslims belonging to Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan and residing in 13 districts of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Punjab to apply for Indian citizenship.

    The matter came up for hearing before a vacation bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian.

    Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner, said the Centre had filed a counter-affidavit on the issue on Monday.

    “The Union of India has filed a counter-affidavit yesterday. We need two weeks to file reply,” Sibal told the bench.

    The apex court said it would hear the matter after two weeks.

    In its affidavit filed in the top court, the Centre has said that its notification does not relate to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) and is a “mere delegation of power vested with the Central Government to local authorities.”

    The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has said that similar delegation of power has been permitted by the Central government in 2004, 2005, 206, 2016 and 2018 also and no relaxation whatsoever has been made in respect of the eligibility criteria between different foreign nationals which are laid down in the Citizenship Act, 1955 and rules made thereunder.

    “It is submitted that the notification dated May 28, 2021, does not relate to the CAA which has been inserted into the Act as section 6B,” the MHA said in the affidavit and added that it seeks to merely delegate the power of the Central government to the local authorities in particular cases.

    “The said notification does not provide for any relaxations to foreigners and applies only to foreigners who have entered the country legally as the Central Government used its authority under Section 16 of the Citizenship Act and delegated its powers to grant citizenship by Registration or Naturalisation to District Collectors,” the MHA said.

    The affidavit, filed in response to a plea by Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), said the May 28 notification is merely a process of decentralisation of decision making aimed at speedy disposal of the citizenship applications of such foreigners as the decision will now be taken at the district or state level itself after examining each case.

    The IUML had recently moved the top court challenging the Centre’s notification inviting non-Muslims belonging to Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan and residing in 13 districts in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Punjab to apply for Indian citizenship.

    The application claimed that the Centre is trying to circumvent the assurance given to the apex court in this regard in the pending petition filed by the IUML challenging the constitutional validity of the provisions of the CAA.

    The CAA grants Indian citizenship to non-Muslim minorities –Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian — who migrated to India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh till December 31, 2014, following persecution over their faith.

    IUML, in its plea, said that the Centre had during the course of hearing of its plea challenging the constitutional validity of CAA, submitted before the apex court and provided assurance that staying of the Amendment Act was not necessary since the rules of the Amendment Act had not been framed.

  • Centre’s latest citizenship move back door entry of CAA, exposes Modi government’s fascist nature: Left

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Centre’s move to verify and approve citizenship applications from members of minority communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh living in five Indian states reveals the government’s “fascist character” and is a way to give a “back door entry” to the CAA-2019, the Left parties alleged Saturday.

    The Centre on Friday issued a gazette notification granting powers under existing rules to authorities in 13 districts of Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab to accept, verify and approve citizenship applications from members of minority communities hailing from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

    With the Centre yet to frame rules under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019, which was fiercely protested against by various sections, the order has been issued under the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Citizenship Rules, 2009.

    The Friday notification lists Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians as the communities that will be allowed.

    The applications will have to be submitted online.

    “Subterfuge. Rules under CAA 2019 not framed, yet the Central govt issues gazette notification to implement it. Petitions challenging Constitutional validity of CAA continue to remain unheard. Hope SC takes this up promptly & stops back door implementation,” CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said in a Tweet.

    CPI general secretary D Raja alleged the move “completely exposes the fascist character” of the present government.

    He said there were huge protests against the CAA 2019 before the agitators relented because of the coronavirus pandemic, while some protests earlier were “ruthlessly crushed”.

    “It (the latest citizenship move) shows the insensitivity of a government if it pursues its political agenda at a time when thousands are dying every day due to a pandemic. This exposes the government as insensitive, anti-people and anti-democracy,” he said.

    Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI-ML general secretary, questioned as to how such an order can be passed when the CAA rules are still not in place.

    “In election rallies, BJP leaders were ‘distributing’ citizenship like they deposited those Rs 15 lakh in every account. Now they are asking for applications from refugees! So if you’re an undocumented citizen, you now become a refugee! By the way, are the CAA rules in place?” he asked.

    In December 2019, the Parliament had amended the Citizenship Act to grant citizenship to illegal immigrants belonging to Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Parsi, Christian and Buddhist communities — but not Muslims — from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

    Under this law, they will be granted fast track Indian citizenship in six years.

    So far, 12 years of residence has been the standard eligibility requirement for citizenship through naturalisation.

    The legislation was passed amid strong criticism from the Opposition, which has been calling it discriminatory, and triggered massive nationwide protests.

  • Jailed MLA Akhil Gogoi turns into instant sensation at Assam assembly oath session

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: As the newly elected Assam assembly convened on Friday, first time MLA Akhil Gogoi, who came for the swearing-in ceremony from prison with special permission from the courts, turned out to be a sensation with people including assembly staff rushing to take selfies with the jailed leader.

    Gogoi, who contested as Independent, became the first Assamese to win an election from behind the bars without any physical campaigning.

    He also became the first in Assam Assembly to take oath as a prisoner MLA.

    He has been arrested on terror and sedition charges after leading a movement against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

    Such was the craze among the Assembly staff to have a photograph with Gogoi that police, who were on duty inside the Assembly building in civil dresses, and House Marshals had to intervene.

    Dozens of Assembly staff huddled in the narrow corridor of the Assembly building outside Gogoi’s room, minutes after the House was adjourned after the first half, reminiscent of crowds outside the rooms of `rock stars.

    A lady member of the assembly staff, who declined to be identified, told PTI that she and her colleagues came to the isolated room, where Gogoi was kept after taking oath as an MLA of the 15th Assam Legislative Assembly, only to catch a glimpse of the RTI activist-turned-politician.

    “I have spent 11 years in service in the Assembly and never clicked any picture with anyone we all are very excited to see Akhil Gogoi,” she added.

    Police from the special cell guarded the room after crowds swelled and jostled to see the MLA, forgetting all social distancing norms amid a raging COVID-19 pandemic, and did not allow anyone thereafter to meet him.

    Gogoi who heads the newly formed `Raijor Dal defeated BJP’s Surabhi Rajkonwari by a decisive 11,875 votes from Sibsagar constituency in the recently held Assam Assembly polls.

    In the morning when Gogoi arrived in a heavily escorted convoy from the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), where he is undergoing treatment, he was seen being pushed by security personnel when the MLA tried to speak to media outside the main gate.

    “I am an MLA of this Assembly. How can you push and drag an MLA? This is an insult . No one can silence my voice,” he shouted while being pushed inside the Assembky buiding.

    Inside the House, Gogoi raised the issue with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who, according to the MLA, directed the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pijush Hazarika to look into the matter.

    Gogoi took oath in the name of honesty and sincerity, instead of in the name of God.

    Later talking exclusively to PTI sitting at the opposition MLA’s lounge, the Raijor Dal chief said I will raise the same old questions about welfare of Assam and its people, this time in front of the chief minister, ruling and opposition MLAs,” he added.

    Gogoi said he will raise his voice against any “anti- people” policies of the Assam government.

    “CAA, flood havoc, COVID-19 situation, universal vaccination, big dams — these are some issues which I will raise in the House,” he said.

    The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested him in December 2019 for his alleged role in violent anti- Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests across the state.

    Gogoi was last year admitted at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) for treating COVID-19 and he remains there for other ailments.

    Though the Gauhati High Court upheld a bail order of Gogoi by a Special NIA Court, he is still in judicial custody as he was rejected bail in another case related to anti-CAA violence and is being investigated by the NIA.

    Meanwhile, 

    Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, his predecessor Sarbananda Sonowal, former Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia and jailed anti-CAA leader Akhil Gogoi were among those who took oath on Friday as MLAs of the 15th Assam Legislative Assembly.

    The swearing-in ceremony of all the elected members of the 126-MLA House was conducted by the pro-tem Speaker and eight-time legislator Phani Bhusan Choudhury.

    Sarma, Sonowal, Saikia, Gogoi and most of the other MLAs took oath in Assamese, while many took the pledge in Bangla.

    A few members also swore in Bodo, Sanskrit, English and Nepali languages.

    Gogoi and CPI(M) MLA Manoranjan Talukdar, however, did not swear in the name of God, but honesty and sincerity.

    The first session, which will continue for three days, was convened to administer oath to the MLAs.

    Governor Jagdish Mukhi will deliver his speech to the newly elected legislators on Saturday.

    BJP MLA Biswajit Daimary was on Friday unanimously elected as the Speaker .

    Daimary had submitted his nomination on Thursday in presence of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and BJP state president Ranjeet Kumar Dass in the assembly secretariat.

    The Congress-AIUDF coalition had not put any candidate for the speaker’s post.

    With no other nomination, pro-tem Speaker Phani Bhusan Choudhury announced Daimary as the new speaker and handed over the charge to him.

    Thanking everyone, the newly elected speaker said, “I believe I will be able to give a strong and positive message from the House to the people of Assam. All the MLAs will be able to speak their mind here. I will give equal chance to everyone as per the rule.”

    Congratulating Daimary, Sarma said many eminent personalities had become the speaker of Assam assembly and they added to the prestige and glory of the chair.

    Other leaders like former chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Congress Legislature Party Leader Debabrata Saikia, AIUDF Legislature Party leader Hafiz Bashir Ahmed, BJP Assam President Ranjeet Kumar Dass and AGP President Atul Bora too congratulated Daimary.

    Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi said, “We are very glad that an indigenous person from the Bodo community has become the Speaker. This is a matter of pride for all of us.”

    In February, Daimary was re-elected to Rajya Sabha following switching side to BJP from Bodoland People’s Front (BPF).

    He contested the assembly polls from the Panery constituency and won by a margin of 35,852 votes.

    The ruling BJP has nominated its MLA Numal Momin for the post of deputy speaker.

    He will submit his nomination when the Secretariat will call for applications for the post.

    Momin was elected to the assembly for the second consecutive time from the Bokajan seat.

  • ‘CAA, religious overtone of COVID big concern’: US report flags discrimination, violence against minorities in India

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The International Religious Freedom Report for 2020, prepared by the US State Department and submitted to the US Congress, has expressed concerns about the discrimination and violence faced by religious and ethnic minorities in India.

    “Among the issues discussed were the Muslim community’s concerns about the CAA, difficulties faced by faith-based NGOs in the wake of amendments to the FCRA, and allegations that Muslims spread the Covid-19 virus,” the report noted.  

    It further observed that there were “reports of religiously motivated killings, assaults, riots, discrimination, vandalism, and actions restricting the right of individuals to practice and speak about their religious beliefs”. 

    The report is an annual document submitted to the US Congress that documents major instances of the violation of religious freedom across the world. It was released by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 

    According to the section of the report that deals with India, US officials including those from the Embassy, during meetings with their Indian counterparts, have stressed on the importance of religious freedom and the responsibility of democracies to ensure the rights of religious minorities.

    India has consistently dismissed such reports from the US, claiming there is no locus standi for foreign governments to assess the state of its citizens with regard to rights that are guaranteed and protected by the Constitution.

    Saying that at least 10 of 28 Indian states have laws that restrict religious conversions, the report states that citizens must practice their religion in a way that they do not adversely affect health, morality or public order.

    Report praises Modi’s message of brotherhood

    The report took note of the message of ‘unity and brotherhood’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after members of the Tablighi Jamaat last year were being targeted in the wake of the first wave of Covid-19.  

    “Prime Minister Modi tweeted on April 19, ‘COVID-19 does not see race, religion, colour, caste, creed, language or borders before striking. Our response and conduct thereafter should attach primacy to unity and brotherhood’,” the State Department noted

  • Assam election results: Anti-CAA activist Akhil Gogoi first in state to win polls from jail

    By PTI
    SIBSAGAR: Jailed anti-CAA activist Akhil Gogoi became the first Assamese to win an election without hitting the campaign trail, as he clinched the Sibsagar constituency, defeating his nearest rival Surabhi Rajkonwari of the BJP by a decisive 11,875 votes.

    The founder of the newly floated Raijor Dal — arrested in December 2019 over sedition charges — bagged 57,219 votes as an Independent, garnering support from 46.06 per cent of the electorate.

    The Congress, which had initially backed the Raijor Dal chief, ended up giving ticket to Subhramitra Gogoi, who came third in the contest.

    The RTI activist, in an attempt to reach out to the people of the state, wrote several open letters from jail, highlighting problems that need to be addressed.

    CLICK HERE TO READ ASSAM ELECTION COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS

    What might have struck a chord with the electorate was his 85-year-old mother’s efforts to campaign for his imprisoned son along the narrow lanes of Sibsagar, despite the frailties of old age.

    Moved by Priyada Gogoi’s determination, renowned social activists Medha Patkar and Sandeep Pandey flew down to the Upper Assam town and joined the octogenarian in her campaigns.

    Hundreds of youth volunteers of the Raijor Dal also took to door-to-door electioneering to woo voters ahead of the three-phase polls.

    Notwithstanding the entire election machinery of the BJP, which put all its weight behind Rajkonwar as top leaders such as Union Minister Smriti Zubin Irani addressed the people of the constituency, Gogoi, a greenhorn, emerged victorious with absolutely no cash in hand and Rs 60,497 in deposits.

    A graduate from Cotton College in Guwahati, the 46- year-old Raijor Dal chief is not new to electoral politics.

    He had served as general secretary of the Cotton College Students’ Union in 1995-96.

    Over the years, the anti-corruption activist, who also helms the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), had been at the forefront of numerous agitations.

    He had fought for land rights of indigenous people, and led a statewide movement against construction of big dams in the ecologically sensitive regions.

    Dozens of cases have been slapped on him by successive state governments.

    The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested him in December 2019 for his alleged involvement in the violent anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests across the state.

    Political analyst Atiqur Rahman Barbhuiya said Gogoi’s victory will go down in history as the only political prisoner to have set such a precedent after former union minister George Fernandes, who won the 1977 Lok Sabha election by over three lakh votes from a jail in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur.

    “Gogoi won because he identified with the indigenous sentiments. People considered him as his spokesperson,” Rahman Barbhuiya told PTI.

    Prominent members of the Raijor Dal said they would move the court, seeking arrangements for Gogois participation in the oath-taking ceremony.

  • Bengal elections: Poll verdict in Matua bastions crucial for BJP before CAA implementation

    By PTI
    BONGAON/KRISHNANAGAR: With citizenship for refugees having emerged as one of the poll planks of the BJP in its battle for Bengal, Matua bastions and the verdict they present this election will prove to be a test case for the party that had been weighing the pros and cons before implementing a new law enacted for the purpose.

    Assembly seats in the Matua strongholds of Bongaon and Krishnanagar, close to the India-Bangladesh border, are set to go to polls in the sixth phase of elections, on April 22.

    Matuas, who make for a large chunk of the state’s Scheduled Caste population, had been migrating to West Bengal since the 1950s, primarily due to religious persecution in erstwhile East Pakistan and then Bangladesh.

    With an estimated three million members in the state, the community influences result in at least four Lok Sabha seats and 30-40 assembly seats in Nadia, North and South 24 Parganas districts.

    Apart from the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), two other aspects — identity politics and regional development — have also surfaced as decisive factors this election, as bitter rivals TMC and the BJP go all out to woo the community with several promises aimed at solving local problems.

    “The TMC and the CPI(M) governments have done nothing for the Matuas. It is the BJP that spared a thought for the community. Hence, it promised citizenship.”

    “The BJP passed the CAA in Parliament. But the TMC has opposed it tooth and nail in Bengal. We will vote against this injustice,” said BJP MP Santanu Thakur, who is also the younger scion of the Matua Thakurbari — an influential socio-religious sect.

    Countering him, Mamatabala Thakur, a former TMC MP and the daughter-in-law of the community’s late matriarch Binapani Devi, said the BJP was fooling the refugees with false promises.

    “Matuas are citizens of this country. They don’t need any other proof of citizenship,” she said.

    The CAA seeks to grant citizenship to migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain and Parsi communities who came to the country from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014.

    According to sources in the community, the citizenship law has emerged as a major issue among the community members as they are apprehensive that if the NRC exercise is conducted prior to CAA implementation, they might be branded as “foreigners” who had entered India “without valid documents”.

    “Most of them fled religious persecution in Bangladesh and migrated to India. Now, if we don’t give them citizenship, where will they go? CAA, for us, is not a political issue but a core ideological commitment,” Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh said.

    Matuas, with their sheer size of the population and tendency to vote en bloc, just like the minorities, make for an enviable vote bank that all the political parties had tried to secure since the nineties.

    TMC chief Mamata Banerjee had first reached out to the Matuas and other Schedule Caste communities, such as the Rajbanshis, around a decade ago.

    She nominated members of the Matua Thakurbari as candidates in the 2011 elections, and that, in, turn, played a role in paving the way for her victory.

    However, the BJP’s promise to implement the CAA also paid off and the saffron party won all Matua-dominated Lok Sabha seats in 2019 and took the lead in almost 35 assembly segments.

    The TMC quickly went on a course correction drive and regularised all refugee colonies, giving them land rights, besides politically exploiting the delay and confusion over the implementation of CAA.

    “The Matua community knows what Mamata Banerjee government has done for their development. We don’t need advice from the BJP on what needs to be done. I would want to know why, despite tall claims, the Centre has implemented CAA yet?” TMC MLA from Habra and state minister Jyotipriyo Mullick asked.

    Banerjee, who has allotted Rs 10 crore for the Matua development fund, has cautioned Matuas that citizenship law would add to their woes, and the saffron camp may just classify them as foreigners following its implementation.

    Although the BJP is confident of pocketing Matua votes this time, the brewing resentment among a section of the community members over the delay in implementation of CAA may cost the saffron camp dearly in some seats.

    “In 2019, the promise of citizenship did wonders for the BJP in the Matua belt. But this time, the delay may spoil our chances to an extent. It is to be seen whether our message that CAA would be implemented soon still holds water in this region,” a senior saffron camp leader said.

    BJP national vice president Mukul Roy, who is contesting the elections from Krishnanagar Uttar seat, however, is certain that Matuas would favour the BJP over its rivals.

    “Various political parties, including the TMC, have betrayed Matuas from the beginning; it is only the BJP which is fighting for the cause of their citizenship. Matuas are firmly with us,” Roy, who is in the fray after a gap of two decades, said.

  • Gauhati High Court upholds bail order of peasant activist Akhil Gogoi by special NIA court

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has upheld the bail order of peasant activist Akhil Gogoi by a Special NIA Court in relation to his alleged role in violent protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Assam in 2019.

    Dismissing an appeal by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), a High Court bench comprising Justices Suman Shyam and Mir Alfaz Ali said any act aimed at creating civil disturbance will not come within the purview of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 unless committed with the requisite intention.

    “Upon going through the impugned judgement and order dated 01.10.2020 in the light of materials placed before us, we are of the considered opinion that the views expressed by the learned Special Court, NIA leading to granting of bail to the respondent is a possible view in the facts and circumstances of the case.

    “Therefore, we do not find any error in the approach of the learned court below while exercising discretionary jurisdiction and granting bail to the respondent,” the High Court said in its order on April 9.

    On October 1 last year, the Special NIA court had granted bail to Gogoi after submission of chargesheet by the investigating agency.

    “Unlawful act of any other nature, including acts arson and violence aimed at creating civil disturbance and law and order problems, which may be punishable under the ordinary law, would not come within the purview of section 15(1) of the Act of 1967 unless it is committed with the requisite intention,” the HC order said.

    By ‘Act of 1967’, the bench referred to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

    The High Court also noted that the bail order by the lower court was passed after submission of the chargesheet on June 26, 2020 and no formal charge has yet been framed against Gogoi.

    “The materials submitted along with the chargesheet are basically statements of the witnesses recorded under section 161 of the Cr.P.C. which obviously do not have any evidential value,” it added.

    During the peak of anti-CAA movement in 2019, the Chabua police station on December 10 registered an FIR (case no. 289/2019) under Sections 120(B), 147, 148, 149, 336, 307, 383 and 326 of the IPC along with sections 15(1)(a) and 16 of the UA(P)A.

    While the matter was under investigation by the Assam police, the Union Home Ministry on December 14, 2019 ordered to shift the case to the NIA, which re-registered it as RC- 01/2020/NIA-GUW.

    Gogoi was rejected bail in another case related to anti- CAA violence and is being investigated by the NIA, which took his custody in December 2019.

    He was last year admitted at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) for treatment of COVID-19 and he remains there for other ailments.

    Gogoi contested the Assam Assembly polls this year from Sibsagar constituency.

  • Haunted by Trinamool’s cut money culture, Bengal minorities forced to choose a lesser evil 

    Express News Service
    NORTH DINAJPUR:  Amin Ali has just finished his lunch of rice, daal and boiled potato at a roadside eatery at Goalpokhar in North Dinajpur district.

    He is planning to buy a tarpaulin sheet to cover the tiled roof his house before seasonal thunderstorms hit the region.

    He got a house under the state government’s housing scheme for the poor, but without a concrete roof over it.

    The 55-year-old brick kiln labourer had to pay Rs 30,000 as ‘cut money’ to local Trinamool Congress leaders for getting himself enrolled in the list of beneficiaries.

    As a result, he struggles with the stopgap roof of his house which gets damaged by storm almost every year.

    “There are many others who had to face the similar plight. I had no option other than paying the cut money. How could I build a house with concrete walls with my monthly earning of Rs 4,500,’’ Ali says.

    BJP has been making relentless attacks on the Mamata Banerjee government on the issue of cut money.

    But the campaign’s electoral impact seems to be missing in this minority-dominated region of north Bengal comprising two districts North Dinajpur and Malda where 21 Assembly constituencies are located. Whom will you vote for?

    “Do we have an option? We have to vote for those who have given us half a house. If they (BJP) come to power, we will be driven out of the country,’’ says the father of three, who migrated from Bangladesh 35 years ago.

    Extreme polarisation

    Sensing adverse impacts of the Citizenship Amendment Act and lukewarm impact of TMC’s alleged corruption on the region’s minority vote bank which forms around 50 per cent of the total electorates, BJP is trying to hard sell the Hindutva rhetoric.

    This region is set to experience an extremely polarised election on the line of religion. BJP faced largescale agitations over its choice of candidates, which is also a factor that might fetch TMC electoral dividend.

    Asgar Ali, a graduate in philosophy, is more concerned about his future than BJP’s Hindutva or TMC’s minority appeasement.

    “Practically, I don’t see a reason to vote for either. Joblessness is an issue among the youth like me which the TMC government failed to address in 10 years. Many from our area secured jobs of teachers in primary schools after paying bribes ranging from `10 lakh to `15 lakh. On the other hand, BJP leaders never hesitate to issue statements which not only hurt us but also makes us feel insecure,’’ he says.

    JP supporters during Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s roadshow in Nadiadistrict on Sunday

    The 27-year-old, a face of Bengal’s educated and jobless young voters, finds no reason to support the LF-Congress alliance as it would mean wasting his ‘valuable’ vote.

    “My political allegiance might be towards TMC. At least, they would be opposing CAA, which poses as a threat to us,’’ says the resident of Chakulia, another minority-dominated pocket in North Dinajpur.

    The electoral landscape in Bengal’s concentrated minority pockets was not as polarised during the 2016 elections.

    Though BJP is painting Mamata as anti-Hindu, Muslim voters had shown that she was not their preferred choice in the previous Assembly elections.

    In the districts of Murshidabad, Malda and North Dinajpur, which have a minority population of over 50 per cent, the CPI(M)-Congress alliance had won 31 seats out of 43. But in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, TMC secured lead in 23 Assembly constituencies.

    Debasish Biswas, professor of economics in Raiganj University and a political observer, described TMC’s surge in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as a fallout of BJP’s aggressive Hindutva campaign.

    “The minorities, who did not vote for TMC in the 2016 Assembly polls, extended their support to them in 2019. It is a direct impact of NRC and CAA, which Mamata Benerjee also described as a threat to the minority community,’’ he observes.

    How lotus bloomed

    Asim Biswas, a farmer in his 40s, said most of the Hindus had migrated from Bangladesh and CAA is promising citizenship for them.

    “When Muslims of this region united, Hindus, too, decided to come under the umbrella of BJP. That’s why BJP secured lead in this Assembly seat in the 2019 elections despite TMC winning the seat in 2016,’’ says Biswas, who has shifted allegiance from CPI(M) to BJP, like many others across the state.

    They are a massive factor behind the saffron camp’s rise in Bengal. In Raiganj, the headquarters of North Dinajpur which is infamous for hooligaism, shootouts and gang rivalries, TMC is trying to dent Congress’s vote bank after winning the civic body, which was ruled by the grand old party since 1950.

    The TMC also erected two statues of Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, the late Congress stalwart from the region.

    “A considerable number of Congress workers still carry Dasmunsi’s legacy. Congress has no chance of doing well in this region. Our attempt is to woo Congress supporters,’’ said Kanhaiyalal Agarwal, TMC’s candidate from Raiganj.

  • Congress ‘propaganda’ on CAA fails to cut ice with people in poll-bound Assam: Anurag Thakur

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Congress and other opposition parties in Assam are using Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as a “propaganda” to mislead the people in the polls but they have failed to peddle lies, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said on Sunday.

    The “propaganda that CAA is against the rights of the Assamese has fallen flat” as the people have totally ignored it in the ongoing assembly elections, Thakur told PTI in an interview.

    “The Congress and other opposition parties made a big hue and cry over CAA and tried to create a narrative in the polls that the Act is against the rights of the people ‘parantu jhooth ke pao nahi hote (a lie has no legs to stand upon),” he said.

    The Citizenship (Amendment) Act aims to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis who entered India on or before December 31, 2014 from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, having fled religious persecution in their countries The people of Assam know that the NDA government will not take any step which is against their interest, the Union Minister for state for Finance and Corporate Affairs added.

    The opposition Congress, as part of its ‘Five Guarantee’ campaign during the elections, has promised that the CAA will not be implemented in the state and steps will be taken not to ratify it in the assembly, if the party is voted to power.

    Attacking the Congress-AIUDF alliance in the state, the Union minister said that it exposes the “policy of appeasement for the sake of vote-bank politics pursued by the Congress always”.

    The Congress has stooped so low in its quest for power that its leader Rahul Gandhi describes a person like AIUDF Chief Badruddin Ajmal as the identity of Assam.

    “Can people of the state ever accept this?” Thakur asked.

    “Congress ghuspetiyo ke peeth par baith kar satta pe aana chahte hain aur NDA ghuspetiyo ko rokne (Congress wants to ride to power on the back of infiltrators but the NDA wants to stop infiltrators),” he said.

    Congress represents ‘corruption and communalism’ whereas NDA symbolizes ‘good governance and development’, he asserted.

    During the last five years, the double-engine government of NDA at the centre and the Sarbananda Sonowal led government in the state have ensured the delivery of schemes and its benefits to the targeted beneficiaries, he said.

    The last five years has taken Assam to new heights with a transparent government which has maintained accountability and good governance, he said.

    Comparing the previous Congress governments with that of the BJP, the Union minister said that former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who represented the state for 10 years, did not visit the state even ten times during his tenure, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited the state 35 times in the last six years.

    Besides, the former had allocated only Rs 80,000 crore in ten years while Rs 1,60,000 crore has been allocated in five years by the Modi governmnent, he said.

    This makes it amply clear that NDA is very serious about ensuring the development of Assam and it has taken several initiatives to ensure this during its tenure.

    People know this and they will bring NDA back to power for the second consecutive term so that the process of development continues, he said.

    This continuity is very important so that development goes on and Assam is transformed as one of the top five states in the country, he added.

    “The continuity of the NDA government is also important to check the influx of illegal migrants in the state and in the next five years, we will ensure that the pending work of sealing borders in completed,” he said.

    The former president of the Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) said that during his tenure in the cricket body, Assam Cricket Associations stadium in Guwahati was completed and he had ensured that IPL and international matches are allotted to the state.

    “Assam has huge potential among youths to take up sports and we are keen to develop the state as a sports hub”, he said.

    Youths know that it is the NDA government that recognize their potential and has created immense opportunities for them which they must avail and make the state one of the foremost in the country.

    Assam has the best connectivity and infrastructure in the region and is the ‘Gateway to the North East’ with the NDA committed to take its potential to greater heights.

    He asserted that the NDA’s initiatives to make Assam free from floods, corruption, blockade, violence and infiltration have convinced people that there is no alternative to this government in the state.

  • No plans to conduct NRC exercise in Bengal, CAA to be implemented: Vijayvargiya

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Countering opposition claims that the BJP, if voted to power in Bengal, will update the National Register of Citizens (NRC), thereby “taking away the citizenship rights of people”, Kailash Vijayvargiya, the saffron camp’s national general secretary, on Sunday reaffirmed that no such plan is on the radar.

    He, however, stated that the party intends to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and provide rights to refugees who fled religious persecution in neighbouring countries and moved to India.

    “We are only looking forward to implementing the CAA after the elections, as promised in the manifesto. It is an important issue for us, as we strive to grant citizenship to the persecuted refugees. We do not have any plan of conducting the NRC exercise, even if we win the elections,” he said.

    According to state BJP sources, the new citizenship law will benefit more than 1.5 crore people in India, including over 72 lakh in West Bengal.

    Accusing the TMC of “running a disinformation campaign against the saffron camp, the 64-year-old leader wondered why the ruling party in the state is opposing the CAA, which could be of benefit to many.

    Bengal has a sizeable population of Matuas, who had been migrating to the state since the 1950s, primarily due to religious persecution.

    The community, with its three million members, influences at least four Lok Sabha seats and 30-40 assembly seats in Nadia, North and South-24 Parganas.

    The TMC hopes to politically exploit the confusion over CAA implementation to curry favour with the Matua community, which had voted hands down in favour of the saffron camp in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

    Training his guns on Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her assertion that the “Election Commission was working at the behest of the BJP”, Vijayvargiya, who is also the BJP’s Bengal minder, said it was an irony that the TMC boss pointed no finger at the poll panel when her party registered two successive electoral victories.

    Contending that Banerjee’s “foolish claims” will yield no result, he said the TMC, sensing defeat, is levelling absurd allegations against the saffron party.

    “Mamata Banerjee never felt that the EC was acting partially when she won the polls. The irony is that when you were winning the elections, everything seems fine. Once you start sensing defeat, you blame the EC and the electronic voting machines,” he said.

    Exuding confidence that the BJP will sweep the assembly elections, with more than 200 seats in its kitty, Vijayvargiya also downplayed insinuations that the party could be at a disadvantage for not having projected a chief ministerial face in Bengal, and said “several leaders are capable of taking the reins of the state” and a decision would be taken only after the polls.

    “We are fighting the elections under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. We have never projected a CM face in poll-bound states. For us, ideology is important. Once voted to power, the legislative party in consultation with the top leaders will decide on the CM candidate,” he said.

    In an interview with PTI, the BJP’s Bengal minder further claimed that the people of the state are waiting to witness “ashol poriborton” (real change), as they have long endured infiltration woes, corrupt practices and the politics of appeasement.

    The call for “poriborton” was first given by the TMC during the 2011 assembly polls, as it sought to end the 34- year Left rule in the state.

    Slamming the Mamata Banerjee camp over its “outsider versus insider” debate, the BJP’s chief strategist in Bengal said that the ruling party in the state has nothing better to talk about, given its dismal performance in the last 10 years.

    The TMC has branded the BJP as a “party of outsiders” as its top leaders hail from other states.

    “The TMC wants to make an emotional appeal with its ‘Bengal daughter’ campaign. But I don’t think Bengal would get swayed away by this. This is 2021, and such issues don’t have much of an impact. As the party has no achievement in its bag, it clings to this ‘outsider-insider’ debate,” he said.

    Noting that people are fed up with the TMC’s “syndicate culture, appeasement politics and politicisation and criminalisation of administration”, Vijayvargiya said “corruption has percolated to the grass-roots level, and that has angered the people of the state”.

    Insisting that the BJP is keen on securing India’s eastern borders, which have turned into a “transit point for terror elements”, he said infiltration is not just threatening national security but also taking a toll on the country’s economy, as locals now have to compete with the illegal immigrants for jobs.

    Dismissing allegations that “communal polarisation has reared its ugly head in Bengal, with the growth of the BJP in the state”, the senior saffron camp leader said the TMC’s appeasement politics was to blame for the rise in identity politics, and his party, once voted to power, would put an end to this practice.

    Asked whether the rift between old-timers and newcomers over ticket distribution has been reined in, he said everyone in the party will have to abide by the rules and regulations laid down by the top brass.

    “During the last assembly polls, we had difficulty finding suitable candidates for the 294 seats. This time, however, there were as many as 5,000 aspirants. Thankfully, everything is under control.”

    “We have spoken to all workers, and they are back working for the party. We are a disciplined party, but we also practise democracy and everyone has the right to express their views,” he said.