Keypoints:
- The BJP national general secretary accused the TMC government of not being sympathetic to the cause of the refugees.
- The BJP leader said that their party always delivers on its promise and they will provide citizenship to the refugees of the neighbouring countries.
On Saturday, BJPs incharge Kailash Vijayvargiya said that BJP led Centre government will start the process of granting citizenship to refugees under Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) from January next year.
“Most probably from January the process of granting citizenship to refugees under CAA will be started by the BJP government,” Kailash Vijayvargiya told reporters.
“All those people who are being persecuted on religious matters in our neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Nepal, will be given citizenship by the Modi government,” he said.
“We are hopeful that the process of granting citizenship to refugees under the CAA will begin from January next year,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the party’s “Aar Noy Anyay” (no more injustice) campaign in North 24 Parganas district.
“The Centre has passed the CAA with the honest intention of granting citizenship to persecuted refugees coming to our country from neighbouring nations,” he added.
Reacting to Mr Vijayvargiya’s comment, senior TMC leader and state minister Firhad Hakim said that the BJP is trying to fool the people of West Bengal.
A section of State BJP leadership is apprehensive that the delay and confusion over CAA implementation might turn refugee voters, especially the Matua community, against BJP in the 2021 assembly elections due in April-May next year.
In October, BJP national president J P Nadda had attributed the delay in the implementation of CAA to the pandemic and said that the law would be implemented soon. “Due to Covid-19 pandemic, the implementation of CAA was delayed. However, as the overall situation is improving slowly, rules are now being framed. CAA will be implemented very soon and all of you will get the benefits of the law. We are committed to it,” Nadda had said while he was on a day-long visit to the state to take stock of his party’s organisational preparations and strength ahead of the 2021 assembly polls.
The CAA seeks to grant citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Jain and Parsi refugees who have come to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014.
