Mamata takes veiled dig at Modi over divisive citizenship law

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today took a veiled dig at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had said at an election rally in Jharkhand recently that those involved in arson and violence during the protest against Citizenship Amended Act (CAA) can be "identified by their clothes".

Addressing a rally in Jadavpur in south Kolkata before setting off on a street march for the second consecutive day, she said, "The whole country is burning and they are talking about the clothes you are wearing. Can you tell who I am from seeing me and what I am wearing? Never thought that you can identify the people by their dresses."

Mamata said a party may get a law passed in the parliament using the power of legislative arithmetic but cannot enforce it without the support of the people across the country.

Iterating that neither the CAA nor the NRC will be implemented in West Bengal, she said not a single person would have to leave Bengal. "West Bengal and India will not be allowed to be divided on the basis of religion," she added.

Last Sunday, Modi had at a rally in Dumka, Jharkhand accused the Congress and their allies of creating a ruckus in the name of opposing the CAA. "They are doing arson because they did not get their way. People who are setting fire (to property) can be seen on TV. They can be identified by the clothes they are wearing."

Mamata said she would not accept the CAA because it is not in keeping with the secular principles of the Indian Constitution.

The Mamata government yesterday ordered to stop work on the National Population Register which is likely to do the spadework for NRC in the future, a move the central government says is aimed at weeding out illegal immigrants.