'CAA will not work in West Bengal': TMC leader Shashi Panja

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 15 (ANI): Trinamool Congress leader Shashi Panja reiterated party chief Mamata Banerjee's statement on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019 saying that the BJP in the Centre brought the CAA and are 'playing' with it as they do not have a solution to the country's problems in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
Panja claimed that the CAA would not 'work' in West Bengal, adding that everyone living in the state was a citizen.
"The CAA and anything related to citizenship will not work in West Bengal. Everyone living in West Bengal is a citizen. They do not have solutions to the problems that the country is faced with ahead of the elections. Hence, they are playing with CAA. Kerala supported us because they, too, understand that everyone living in their state is a citizen of this country," the TMC leader said.
Earlier, on March 13, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the Centre will not be allowed to carry out exercises of the National Register of Citizens and Citizenship Amendment Act in the state.
"I have already said it 3-4 times. Our stand is very clear. It is only to show the people and trouble them. They have NRC at the back of their minds. We won't allow both to take place (NRC and CAA)," Mamata Banerjee said.
Mamata alleged that this was just a gimmick ahead of the general elections and as soon as anyone applies for citizenship under CAA, the person will fall in the category of 'illegal migrants'.
Terming the act anti-constitutional, the CM pointed out that it would treat Muslims as second-class citizens.
On March 11, the Union Home Ministry notified the rules of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha election schedule.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, too, declared earlier that the state will not implement the Act. Apart from Kerala and West Bengal, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, TOO, announced that the CAA will not be implemented in the state.
"LDF government approached the Supreme Court to confirm that Kerala would not implement the Citizenship Amendment Act. Kerala is the first state to move a plea against CAA in the Supreme Court. The state will initiate further legal action soon," Vijayan said.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) Rajya Sabha MP and CPI Kerala State Secretary Binoy Viswam, earlier on Thursday, approached the Supreme Court challenging the implementation of the CAA.
"Provisions of the CAA are prima-facie against the secular tenets of our Constitution and we have approached the Supreme Court requesting to halt the implementation of the dreaded law, which goes against the inclusive fabric of Indian society", he said.
Binoy Viswam in a statement said the CPI has been steadfastly opposing CAA from the initial period itself.
The CAA rules, introduced by the Narendra Modi government and passed by Parliament in 2019, aim to confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians, who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014. (ANI)