Amit Shah to hold rally in Kolkata tomorrow, Opposition targets TMC govt for granting permission to use mic

Though West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier stated no microphone will be used to disturb the students during examinations, the state administration has granted permission to use mics in Shah's rally which will also be attended by BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda.

Hitting out at the TMC and accusing West Bengal's ruling party of having a mutual understanding with the BJP, Congress state president Somen Mitra on Saturday said, "When other opposition parties are not getting permission to use microphone, how come the BJP got the permission? Is Amit Shah a special person for whom the law can be broken?"

Mitra has also attacked Banerjee for not being vocal against Shah after the Delhi violence which has claimed 42 lives (as per last update) in the national capital earlier this week.

"When the Congress and Left and other opposition parties are demanding the resignation of Shah over the Delhi violence, Mamata Banerjee is silent. Mamata Banerjee has no guts to demand Shah's resignation out of fear of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) (CBI probe)," said the veteran Congress leader.

In a similar tone, CPI-M leader Md. Salim said, "The Chief Minister of the state is welcoming the Home Minister because they have a mutual understanding."

CPI-M MLA Sujan Chakraborty tweeted, "While most of the opposition parties have demanded resignation of @AmitShah, @HMOIndia, unfortunately @MamataOfficial is scared of demanding the same. The media hyped face against @BJP4India is utterly exposed again!"

The Left has already planned to protest against Shah's Kolkata visit on Sunday.

Shah will be felicitated by the members of his outfit, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for passing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) in Parliament to make it a law.

The CAB was passed in Parliament in December, 2019, to make it Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) which aims to grant citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi but not Muslim refugees who came to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh due to religious persecution before 2015.

Except a silence from few opposition parties, majority of the non-BJP outfits including the TMC have opposed the CAA accusing the Centre, which is run by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party BJP, of hurting the secular fabric of the nation.

Interestingly, TMC chief Banerjee held the maximum number of rallies against the CAA, National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR).

West Bengal is also one of the states which have passed an anti-CAA resolution in the their respective assemblies.

Shah's rally will begin at 12:30 pm at Shahid Minar on Sunday.