Accusing the BJP and a section of the media of creating panic over NRC, chief minister Mamata Banerjee today claimed it had already led to six deaths in the state. She said : ‘It’s a shame that six people lost their lives after becoming panic-stricken about NRC. Addressing the Trinamul’s trade union wing’s meet, Mamata iterated that she won’t allow NRC in the state. “NRC exercise will not be carried out in Bengal or anywhere else in country. It was conducted in Assam due to Assam Accord,” she asserted.

She said the Bihar chief minister also had made it clear that he won’t allow NRC in Bihar. “Who will implement NRC in Bengal? Our state government will never go for NRC,” she assured. “Have faith in me, I will never allow the exercise in Bengal,” Miss Banerjee said. “How many times I’ll have to say that I’ll not allow NRC in Bengal? Even I cannot produce my mother’s birth certificate. You may lose your documents during flood but for that don’t be afraid go to your nearby police station and lodge an FIR and that will be a proof that you have lost your documents,” she said. She also asked the people to ensure that their names are in the voters’ list.

“Please go and check whether your names are in the voter list,” Miss Banerjee said. She slammed the BJP leaders for spreading panic on NRC in different villages.. “We will launch a movement against NRC with the family members of the victim families,” she announced. A section of the media for their TRP is spreading panic on NRC. She also asked the people who gathered at Netaji Indoor stadium not to watch those media who are creating panic over NRC. Criticising the saffron party for ‘undermining democratic values’ in the country, the chief minister said, “Democracy exists in Bengal but it is under threat in several other parts of the country.”

The BJP and a section of media are not highlighting job losses or the downward spiral of Indian economy, she said and lambasted the media for allegedly bowing down to the BJP-led government at the Centre. “The media is not playing the role it is supposed to. Barring a few, most media houses have bowed down before the BJP-led government,” she added.

NRC in Raj to weed out illegal Bangladeshies: BJP MLA and former minister Vasudev Devnani has urged the Union government to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Rajasthan to get rid of Bangladeshi immigrants “illegally” staying in the state. The former education minister recently wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and claimed that the NRC was needed in the state as several Bangladeshi nationals have illegally settled in Ajmer, Jaipur, Kota, Udaipur, Jodhpur and other districts.

Devnani, who represents the Ajmer north assembly constituency, pointed out that several Bangladeshi nationals come to his constituency posing as pilgrims to visit the Ajmer Sharif Dargah. Instead of returning, they stay back and work as labourers without revealing their real identities, the legislator alleged. He mentioned that many such illegal Bangladeshis have illegally encroached upon land and constructed houses in Ajmer. Some have even managed to obtain government IDs by furnishing fake documents and were involved in criminal activities like theft and loot which is disturbing communal harmony.