NRC, Citizenship Bill to decide fortunes in North Bengal

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the citizenship amendment bill have emerged as the major issues for the upcoming elections in north Bengal, specially, in Jalpaiguri, Raiganj and Darjeeling constituencies. These three constituencies will vote on April 18, the second phase.

In the 2014 elections, BJP, TMC and CPM got one seat each in the region. The stakes are high with about 20% Hindu refugees from Bangladesh and 30% Muslims settlers from the neigbouring country. The vote share made both BJP and TMC focus on NRC and citizenship amendment bill while development and schemes have taken a back seat.

“For north Bengal, both NRC and citizenship amendment bill are crucial as large number of Hindus, who had a sense of religious persecution in Bangladesh settled in Jalpaiguri, Raiganj and in the foothill segments of Darjeeling constituency. So, citizenship amendment bill directly benefits this population. On the contrary, there are Muslims who settled in these bordering districts for economic reasons will also be adversely affected by the NRC, whom Mamata Banerjee is trying to address. The idea of NRC is to identify and weed out illegal immigrants. But the NRC process in Bengal is not yet a firmed up idea,” said Swapan Dasgupta, BJP’s MP in Rajya Sabha, who was also a member of the joint committee on citizenship amendment bill.


Naturally then, prime minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah have taken a stance opposite to that of Banerjee. Modi-Shah duo promised to bring NRC in Bengal and implement citizenship amendment bill, if voted to power. For Banerjee, it is a regressive step, which she will oppose at any cost. In a sharp reaction to Modi and Shah’s campaign speeches, Banerjee continues to claim that NRC and the citizenship amendment bill are ‘conspiracies’ to make more people refugees and stateless.