Not a single Hindu will be affected by the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Sayantan Basu, general secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), West Bengal, said at a press meet in Alipurduar on Tuesday.
“Whether the said Hindu comes from Bangladesh, Afghanistan or from any other planet, their names will be on the NRC,” Basu said. He stated that the only ones to be affected in the making of this list are the Muslims who have infiltrated into India from Bangladesh. Basu said that no Hindu has to suffer to get their names into the NRC if it is prepared in West Bengal. According to a Trinamool Congress leader from north Bengal, Basu was apparently trying to allay fears about NRC, but threatened the Muslims very consciously.
Basu also talked about acquisition of closed tea gardens in the state and the implementation of a minimum wage scale for the tea garden labourers. He said that the Centre can only advice the state on the matter and at most can propose a viable package for the wages of the tea labourers, but it is the state which has to implement it.
Basu has been meeting the district leaders of BJP in Alipurduar for two days to strategise on the coming Assembly elections.
