TMC MLA’s remarks on Bangladeshis, voters’ list add fuel to Bengal politics

Questioned about his comment, Das told the media, “Illegal Bangladeshi immigrants are making their way into our area every day. My message to TMC workers was to ensure that their names should not be in the voters’ list.”

Nearly two decades ago, in 2005, TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had, incidentally, issued an almost similar demand. With the CPI(M) in power in the state, Mamata, an MP at the time, had made infiltration of “illegal Bangladeshi immigrants” in West Bengal a poll issue.

She had even submitted her resignation to then Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, claiming she was not able to raise “people’s issues” in Parliament. “Illegal migrants from Bangladesh are also part of the voters’ list in West Bengal. The state government has done nothing about it. Therefore, the issue must be discussed,” she had said. She didn’t go through with the resignation, though.

Much water has flown down the Hooghly since then. While Mamata has been in power now for three consecutive terms, the BJP has risen from nothingness to become the principal Opposition in the state. With the BJP making anti-Bangladeshi (read anti-Muslim) immigration one of the axes of its politics across the country, legislating the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) and talking of plans to implement the National Register of Citizens nationwide, Mamata, for whom West Bengal’s 27% Muslim population is her strongest vote bank, has doubled down in her opposition to these policies.

Recently, when days before the coming Assembly elections in Gujarat, the Union Home Ministry announced that citizenship rights would be given to immigrants in two districts of the state, Mamata had reiterated the TMC’s opposition to the CAA (which proposes to ease citizenship for immigrants belonging to communities which are in the minority in India’s neighbourhood, effectively barring Muslims) and NRC (which seeks to weed out illegal immigrants).

“I have said earlier that we are not going to implement the CAA in West Bengal. We will stick to that position. These are political stunts ahead of the Gujarat elections. For us, people’s lives are more important than political stunts,” she said.

Saying the TMC MLA’s stand on voter lists showed Mamata’s double-speak, CPI(M) leader Samik Lahiri said, “She has always said what the RSS wants her to say. She is the best student of the RSS. Her politics is opportunistic. Whenever she thinks something won’t give her political benifit, she changes her stance.”

The BJP has filed a complaint against Khokan Das over his remarks. “We request the Union Home Ministry to take cognisance in this matter. Such comments coming from an MLA of the ruling party are detrimental to national security. Such statements can’t be taken lightly,” Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said.

The West Bengal BJP has also written to the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, seeking immediate action against the TMC MLA. “In many places, the party in power is using its influence to manipulate the electoral rolls, and the district administration is a mute spectator. The EC must look into the matter,” state BJP leader Sisir Bajoria said.

The TMC leadership dismissed BJP complaints. “The BJP is a spent force in the state. They have nothing to do except crib over every issue. Nowhere is the TMC trying to influence the electoral rolls,” senior TMC leader Sougata Roy said. Despite the combative statement, a senior party leader said, “It is a big embarrassment for the party as many of Bangladeshi Hindus are from Matua community. We already lost that votebank to the BJP. They did well electorally in the belt dominated by Matuas. So, this type of statement will further damage our popularity among these sections.”