West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday accused the BJP of targeting Bengali-speaking citizens in states ruled by the BJP, labelling even valid document holders as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
The West Bengal Chief Minister said, “You must be ashamed that you are labelling bona fide Indian citizens as Bangladeshis just because of the language they speak,” and added, “One should feel proud to speak in Bengali, as well as Gujarati, Marathi, Hindi.”
“If you ask me, I can speak in all these languages,” Banerjee said.
“On one hand, you are branding Indians as Bangladeshis for their spoken word, and on the other, you are depriving these people, who hold voter ID, PAN, and Aadhaar cards, of the right to earn their livelihood in your states,” she added.
She further questioned how, on one hand, the BJP was “branding Indians as Bangladeshis for their spoken word,” and on the other, was depriving people with “voter ID, PAN, and Aadhaar cards” of their right to earn a livelihood in BJP-ruled states.
The Chief Minister continued her speech undeterred, even as her remarks triggered an uproar from BJP legislators, who stood up in protest and shouted slogans.
Accusing the Union government of withholding funds owed to the state, the Chief Minister said that “despite the BJP’s step-motherly treatment, West Bengal has built 69,000 km of roads under the Pathashree scheme and launched the Awas Yojana with an investment of ₹11,000 crore.”
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.