West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that people from Bangladesh who have been living in West Bengal and exercising their electoral rights in the state need not apply from fresh citizenship.
The chief minister was addressing a public meeting at Kaliaganj in West Bengal and said that she will not let “a single person” to be driven out of the state. She further stated that no refugee living in the state will be deprived of citizenship.
“Those who have come from Bangladesh are citizens of India… They have got citizenship. You don’t need to apply for citizenship again. You have been casting your votes in elections, electing PM and CM, Assembly, Zila Parishad… Now they are saying that you are not citizens. You all are bonafide citizens of this country,” the TMC chief said.
“You have an address, ration card, voter card, driving license. There is no need to get this new card of the BJP. Don’t worry, you will always find this didi beside you. Your family is my family. I will not let anybody take away the rights of our people,” the chief minister said.
Banerjee also slammed the central government for its handling of the riots in Delhi wherein over 40 people lost their lives.
“Don’t forget this is Bengal. What happened in Delhi will never be allowed to happen here. We do not want Bengal to turn into another Delhi or another Uttar Pradesh,” she said.
