Won’t allow it in Bengal: Didi

Sagardighi, November 20 

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee today challenged the Centre on the contentious NRC issue and reiterated that she would not allow the exercise in the state.

Stating that the NRC was part of the Assam Accord signed during the tenure of former PM Rajiv Gandhi, she said the exercise could not be implemented across the country. “ I want to make it very clear that I will never allow NRC in Bengal as long as I am in power in the state,” she said at a public meeting in the border district of Murshidabad. “No one can take away your (people) citizenship and turn you into a refugee. You are and will remain citizens of this country. There can be no division on the basis of religion,” the TMC supremo told the gathering. “If you have one citizenship document, that’s enough. Even if you don’t need ration provided at subsidised rates, ensure you have digital ration cards. Don’t be misguided by people who want to divide communities,” she told the gathering. — PTI