NRC an insult to Bangladesh: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has said that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of the Assam is an insult to Bangladesh.

Speaking at the office of her party All India Trinamool Congress in New Delhi on Wednesday, she said, "BJP is trying to say that all Bangladeshis are infiltrators. That's not true. Neither is Bangladesh an illegal country, nor is she a nation that patronises terrorism."

Mamata went to New Delhi on Monday to gather support against the BJP move. "Bangladesh is our friend. The issues concerning the NRC will have a negative impact on the country. It's a lie that those 4 million people who have been left out of the NRC have come from Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a friend. Such words against her will create big problems. The number of infiltrators is very low. But how did they get in here? It's the responsibility of the BSF who are under the central government," said the WB chief minister.

"Forcing millions of Bangla speaking people saying that they are Bangladeshis is very wrong. We in both the Bengals speak Bangla. Is that a crime? During the partition, many fled Pakistan and came to India. People came here from Nepal as well. What BJP is doing in the name of NRC gives us the impression that anyone who is not a voter for them will be labelled 'foreigners'. If this continues, we will see bloodshed," warned Mamata.

Mamata has earmarked the NRC issue as a catalyst for her initiative to form an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the next general election. As part of the campaign, she met former Indian prime minister HD Deve Gowda and his son HD Kumaraswamy, who is now the chief minister of Karnataka.

Mamata met Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday evening while she has sent an eight-member Trinamool Congress delegation to Assam on a two-day visit.

The West Bengal chief minister also held meetings with veteran lawyer and former BJP leader Ram Jethmalani, former India finance minister Yashwant Sinha and stranged BJP lawmaker Shatrughan Sinha. Mamata said she believed other political parties that are against the NRC should also sent delegations to Assam.

Her party is organising a mass rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on 19 January and Mamata has urged all opposition parties to join the programme to strengthen the anti-BJP movement.