CAA, NRC over ‘my Dead Body’: Mamata Banerjee; LDF and UDF on one platform

KOLKATA | THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Anti-citizenship law protests snowballed into a major flashpoint in West Bengal on Monday as chief minister Mamata Banerjee declared that CAA and NRC can be enforced in the state only over “my dead body”.

On arson and violence in the state, Banerjee said: “Some outside forces are acting as friends of minorities but are indulging in violence. These are stooges of BJP, don’t fall into their trap.” She was apparently referring to Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM with whom she got into a war of words recently.

“We will never allow NRC and CAA in Bengal. No one will be ousted from the state,” Banerjee said as she read out an ‘oath’ for her party workers. Dubbing the rallies “unconstitutional and inflammatory”, governor Jagdeep Dhankhar urged the CM to devote time to retrieving the situation.


In Thiruvananthapuram, CM Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Front government joined hands with opposition Congress-led UDF to protest against CAA.

Vijayan, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and others condemned BJP-sponsored law as “patently unconstitutional and particularly discriminative against Muslim refugees and migrants” aspiring for Indian citizenship. Vijayan said the Constitution did not set religion as a criterion for citizenship.