Mamata goes ballistic on Assam NRC, says Centre doing 'vote politics'
Kolkata, July 30 : Slamming the Central government on Assam's draft NRC which left out over 40 lakh people, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused the Narendra Modi-led government of doing "vote politics".
The first complete draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), comprising names of 2,89,83,677 people of Assam, was published on Monday and 40,07,707 have been left out due to some discrepancies in their documents, according to officials.
Banerjee also alleged people having Aadhaar card, voter identity and others documents were excluded as the authorities were "not satisfied".
She apprehended there would be problems in Bangladesh and West Bengal as it shares border with the northeastern state. The Bengal Chief Minister also alleged that the Modi government was trying to evict people "forcibly".
"Forty lakh people including Hindus and Muslims were left out. All connections including internet have been disconnected which is unfortunate. Why were connections cut? We are not able to contact them. Is it an attempt to bulldoze them? We suspect.
"It is a game plan to evict humanity and human beings forcibly and an attempt to isolate them in order to do vote politics. We do not believe in divide and rule policy," Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat Nabanna.
She further said: "They (left out people) were made refugees by the Assam and central governments. Many people submitted all the documents. Yet, they were not considered, just excluded. Some of them are staying for more than 50 years."
Banerjee, who is going to Delhi for a slew of meetings, will seek appointment with Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
"I appeal to the Centre and Home Minister not to do politics there and consider them on humanitarian ground.The Central government can bring amendment and bills in Parliament to protect them."
The draft NRC was 'terrible' and people were helpless, she said, adding the left-out people were "not Rohingyas" and they are "very much Indians".
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Railways created world record in derailments: Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata, Sep 24: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday mocked the Indian Railways, asserting that it has created a “world record” in derailments.
Banerjee’s comments came hours after a few wagons of an empty goods train jumped tracks in the state’s Jalpaiguri district.
"What is happening with the Railways? Even today, there is the news of derailment. The Railways has created a world record in derailments. But, nobody says anything?" she told reporters after an administrative review meeting in Birbhum.
"People's safety and security is in danger, and they are scared of travelling in trains. Where is the railway minister? Only asking for votes during elections will not help, you have to be by the side of people when they are in danger," Banerjee said.
Five wagons of an empty goods train derailed at New Maynaguri railway station in Jalpaiguri district on Tuesday morning.
No injuries were reported in the incident that occurred around 6.20 am, officials said.
Banerjee, who had served as railway minister twice, claimed that she had run the department smoothly and allocated several projects for West Bengal.
"As the railway minister, I had sanctioned projects worth Rs 2 lakh crore for Bengal," the CM said.
The Railways, in a recent report, had mentioned there were 18 attempts to derail trains across the country since August.
