CAA rollout to be fast-tracked, says Amit Shah in Kolkata

Kolkata: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in Kolkata on Monday that the process of granting citizenship under the CAA will be expedited and completed in West Bengal, and that the central government will make every effort to weed out every infiltrator from the country. Shah laid the foundation stone for a 125-ft statue of Syama Prasad Mookerjee at Eco Park in New Town, Kolkata, on the 125th birth anniversary of Mookerjee.

Appreciating West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari's work over the last two months, Shah said Adhikari had worked in an expedited manner in line with the "Sankalp Patra" and had launched Annapurnar Yojana, free bus rides for women, land transfer to the BSF for barbed fencing, the Durga Suraksha Squad, a Committee on corruption, a Committee to give justice to women, the Maintenance of Public Order Bill, the Uniform Civil Code and several central schemes. "No government in the country has ever worked so quickly," Shah said.

"You (Suvendu) have made the Sankalp Patra promises a reality on the ground and kept those promises. The whole country is keeping an eye on Bengal. I expect, under Adhikari's leadership, Bengal will become Sonar Bangla," Shah said.


Shah appreciated Adhikari for paying due respect to Syama Prasad Mookerjee, son of Asutosh Mookerjee, also known as the "Tiger of Bengal", and for planning to erect a "beautiful statue" in Bengal. "I have suggested that the Syama Prasad Research Institute should be established there," Shah said. The 125-ft monument is likely to become the tallest statue of the nationalist leader in the country.

Shah also praised Adhikari's decision to declare a public holiday on Mookerjee's birth anniversary.

"For me, today is an emotional day. Mookerjee sacrificed his life for Kashmir. Mookerjee left his berth in the Cabinet over the Nehru-Liaqat treaty. He protested openly as the interests of Hindus were ignored. Mookerjee had resigned from the first Cabinet. Around 63 years after his death, on the 125th birth anniversary of Mookerjee, the 'bhumipujan' of his statue was performed," Shah said.