Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah will hold a rally in Kolkata on 11 August amid clear indications from his party leaders that they will make the alleged presence of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in West Bengal a poll issue and seek an Assam-like NRC for the state.
Amit Shah’s rally underscores his intention to build the NRC issue as a major poll plank in Mamata Banerjee’s state.
- TMC will hold anti-NRC rallies across West Bengal, barring Kolkata, on Saturday
- A BJP delegation on Thursday sought the state’s permission for deployment of a drone for mass surveillance
TMC to Hold Anti-NRC Rallies in West Bengal
TMC will take out rallies across West Bengal on Saturday to protest against the publication of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, a senior leader of the party said.
The state capital, however, has been exempted from tomorrow’s plan, TMC secretary-general and West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee told PTI.
“Barring Kolkata, we will organise rallies across the state in protest against the NRC. A separate rally will be taken out in the capital city on Sunday,” Chatterjee told reporters.
BJP Seeks Permission to Fly Drone During Shah’s Fally
A central BJP delegation on Thursday visited the venue of party president Amit Shah’s rally in Kolkata on 11 August and insisted on deployment of a drone for mass surveillance in view of the tent collapse incident at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Midnapore rally in June.
The drone is essential as lakhs of people are expected to gather at Mayo Road in Kolkata on Saturday. So from the security point of view, a drone is a necessity, Kailash Vijayvargiya told reporters.
