WB Becomes 4th State To Pass Anti-CAA Resolution

West Bengal (WB) on Monday became the fourth state to pass a resolution against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has vociferously protested against the law, demanding that it be repealed immediately.

Kerala, Rajasthan and Punjab have already passed resolutions against the Citizenship Law, which came into effect from January 10. The Telangana government has also announced that it would not implement the legislation that has seen widespread protests across the country.

Tabled by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee in the State Assembly, the resolution asks the Centre to repeal the amended Citizenship Law and revoke plans to implement a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC) and update the National Population Register (NPR), PTI reported.

“(The) Citizenship (Amendment) Act is anti-people, the law should be immediately repealed,” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in the Assembly, challenging the NDA-led government to “dismiss my government”.

“Bengal had the guts to skip NPR meeting in Delhi. If the BJP wants, it can dismiss my government. Time has come to put aside narrow differences and fight together to save the country,” Mamata Banerjee said during her address on the anti-CAA resolution.

On criticism by the Opposition regarding her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kolkata earlier this month, Banerjee said it was “protocol”. “Slogan ‘Didi, Modi both sides of the same coin’ will boomerang for Congress and CPI(M). I met PM Narendra Modi as per protocol,” she told the Assembly.

The West Bengal government has repeatedly voiced its opposition to the contentious CAA, the NPR exercise and a proposed nationwide NRC. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has held several rallies against the CAA and NRC, saying if the Centre planned to implement them in the state, “they will have to do it over my dead body”.

Calling the NPR exercise a “dangerous game”, Banerjee said the form, which seeks birth details and residential proof of parents, was nothing but a precursor to the implementation of NRC.

Banerjee, however, skipped the Opposition meeting called by the Congress earlier this month. A total of 20 parties had then adopted a resolution demanding immediate roll-back of CAA and stopping the NPR exercise.