West Bengal Assembly adopts resolution against implementation of NRC, BJP stages walk out

September 6: A joint resolution moved by the ruling Trinamool Congress, Left Front and Congress, was passed by the West Bengal Legislative Assembly on Friday to prevent the possible implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state. While participating in a discussion at the Assembly on the motion on NRC under Rule 185, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, “We will never let BJP implement the NRC in West Bengal.”

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee further said, “During Rajiv Gandhi’s regime, the Assam Accord was signed to bring back peace and tranquility to the state. This was not applicable to other states in India. We will not accept the NRC here. I welcome Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s statement that they will also not implement NRC in their state.” She also said, “This (NRC implementation) is nothing but an attempt to diverge the attention of the people from the ongoing economic crisis in the country.”

Forward Bloc MLA Ali Imran Ramz said, “Out of the 19 lakh excluded in the NRC in Assam, more than 11 lakh are probably Hindus. Who is answerable for this? NRC was implemented because of the Assam Accord but no such accord or agreement was signed in West Bengal. Hence there is no question of the NRC being implemented in the state of West Bengal.”

Manoj Tigga, Leader of BJP Legislative Party in the Assembly said, “We have staged a walk out opposing the motion. In 2005, Mamata Banerjee had accused the Left Front government that they are supporting Bangladeshi infiltration which is changing the state’s demography. Now, she is protesting against the NRC. This is nothing but her double standards.”

The final NRC list of Assam’s National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published on 31 August, 2019. Out of a total number of 3,30,27,661 applicants, the names of 3,11,21,004 were included in the final NRC. That means a total of 19,06,657 persons were excluded from the NRC.