CAA to Bengal BJP like Ram Mandir to party: BJP Bengal president Sukanta Majumdar

The BJP's Bengal unit has asserted that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) would be the core issue for the state BJP just as the Ram Mandir was for the central BJP.

BJP Bengal president Sukanta Majumdar told ET: "In West Bengal, religious minorities from Bangladesh -- Hindus, Buddhists and some Christians -- must be given citizenship and we will request the central government to give them citizenship rights. Citizenship rights for religious minorities are essential and cannot be compromised."

The CAA is likely to be implemented ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.


The Matua community, which had migrated to Bengal from Bangladesh after the partition of Bengal due to religious persecution, are looking forward to the implementation of CAA. Bengal BJP's entry into Matua politics started in 2019 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicking off his Bengal campaign for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections after seeking blessings from Boro Maa Binapani Devi -- the matriarch of the Matua community who died in mid-2019. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also addressed the Matua community in Bongaon on the CAA in 2021.

He said Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee is trying to save herself and trying to please PM Narendra Modi now as her party is riddled with corruption charges. "She thinks that the end of this government is imminent".

"The WBSSC scam is a scam similar to what we have witnessed in Haryana and the then chief minister Om Prakash Chautala is behind bars. The same thing will happen here. Without Mamata Banerjee's consent, nothing can happen in her party," Majumdar told ET.

The BJP is hopeful of making considerable wins in the panchayat polls in 2023 compared to 2018.