A political controversy has erupted in West Bengal after BJP Lok Sabha member and Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, Shantanu Thakur, claimed that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) would be implemented nationwide within a week.
While addressing a booth-conference of BJP workers in South 24 Parganas district on Monday, Thakur stated, “I can give a guarantee of the implementation of CAA nationally. It will be implemented in all the Indian states, including West Bengal, within a week. You will all see that yourself. I am giving this guarantee from this dais.”
In response to Thakur's statement, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of raising the CAA issue before elections as a deliberate attempt to inflame religious sentiments. She questioned the necessity of emphasizing the CAA when everyone is already a citizen and has been voting for many years.
Dr. Shashi Panja, the state Minister of Women & Child Development and Social Welfare Department, also weighed in, stating that there is no need for the CAA in West Bengal, where everyone is living peacefully. Panja emphasized that those residents of Bengal who might fall under the CAA are already receiving rations and voting, and they are living in harmony. The Chief Minister has assured them that there will be no implementation of the CAA in West Bengal, Panja added.
(With Agency Inputs)
