In what is being perceived as a U-turn of sorts, the Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee today said that an ‘opinion poll’ on CAA-NRC under the watch of the United Nations, was what she had mooted yesterday and not a ‘referendum’ as was being made out.

“What I said yesterday that an opinion poll should be conducted by a panel of apolitical experts drawn from the Human Rights Commission and UN under the supervision of the United Nations on the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act ( CAA) and National Register of Citizens NRC),” Miss Banerjee said at a press conference at Trinamul Bhavan today.

She also had a word of advice for the Prime Minister, “ I shall request Prime Minister Narendra Modi to repeal the Act given the volatile situation and the scale of the uprising the country is witnessing against the said Act across the country,” Miss Banerjee said.

Sources in the Trinamul Congress and political watchers close to the Trinamul supremo said that since her batting for a “referendum” on the CAA-NRC had hardly found any takers and failed to gain any traction among other political parties as both the Congress and the Left did not subscribe to her view, she today retracted from her earlier statement made yesterday at a rally of the party’s youth wing at Rani Rashmoni Avenue.

On Thursday, Miss Banerjee at the end of her speech threw an open dare to the Prime minister on the CAA NRC issue, saying that a “referendum” should be conducted by a panel of apolitical experts drawn from the UN and Human Rights Commission under the supervision of the United Nations. No political parties, including the Trinamul Congress, the BJP and other parties would have any role to play. No religious community would have representation. Only a panel of apolitical experts drawn from the Human Rights Body and the UN would conduct the referendum. Should the mandate go against the Act, the Prime Minister should be ready to offer his resignation, she said.

Meanwhile, at a rally at Park Circus today organised by the party’s intellectual cell, Miss Banerjee appealed to the crowd to continue their peaceful agitation till the government at the Centre was forced to repeal the Act. Miss Banerjee further added, “They ( the BJP) are saying now we need the birth certificates of our parents to prove our credentials as citizens of this country we live in and vote during elections. The leaders of your party came to power riding piggyback on the votes that we cast. Why should we not be regarded as bonafide citizens?”