PM Modi in Kolkata today, likely to share dais with Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata/IBNS: Amid the standoff between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre and Trinamool Congress (TMC) over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to share the dais with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during his two-day Kolkata visit on Saturday.
Modi will land at Kolkata Airport at 4 pm and will take a chopper to go to Maidan area from where he will take a car ride to Raj Bhavan, reports said.
On a day several protests are planned across the city, the Prime Minister will take a jetty to Belur Math to attend a programme and come back.
I am excited to be in West Bengal today and tomorrow. I am delighted to be spending time at the Ramakrishna Mission and that too when we mark Swami Vivekananda’s Jayanti. There is something special about that place.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 11, 2020
Modi is expected to share the dais with his arch-rival Banerjee along with West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at an event of Kolkata Port Trust in the evening.
This will be the first meeting between the Prime Minister and Chief Minister amid the ongoing tussle between the BJP and TMC over the CAA.
Banerjee, who is spearheading the CAA protest in West Bengal with frequent rallies and meetings, has already stated she won't allow in the state the implementation of the new Act which will grant citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi but not Muslim refugees who came to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan before 2015.
The Students' Federation of India (SFI)- the student organisation affiliated to the Communist Party of India- which is vehemently opposing the Narendra Modi government over CAA, NRC, National Population Register (NPR) and more recently the assault on Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students, has organised protests against Modi's visit at five locations- Esplanade, College Street, Hatibagan, Jadavpur 8B and Golpark- at 12 pm.
The students will also stage a protest at Airport Gate No. 1 at 3 pm.
Giving a call to boycott Modi's Kolkata trip, CPI-M leader Md. Salim tweeted, "#Kolkata getting ready to reclaim it's democratic space."
#Kolkata getting ready to reclaim it's democratic space.#GoBackModi #GoBackModiFromBengal #KolkataAgainstCAA pic.twitter.com/UDgDM8DXeY
— Md Salim (@salimdotcomrade) January 11, 2020
With a similar slogan, the West Bengal Congress has put up a tweet which reads, "Bengal has no place for divisive politics, communal hatred or fascism. People of Bengal have always rejected politics of hate and polarisation."
Bengal has no place for divisive politics, communal hatred or fascism. People of Bengal have always rejected politics of hate and polarisation. #GoBackModi #BengalRejectsModi #GoBackModiFromBengal pic.twitter.com/lCkdUM5mJ5
— West Bengal Congress (@INCWestBengal) January 11, 2020
In a gazette notification, the Union Home Ministry on Friday said the Act will come into force from Jan 10.
Though Banerjee is opposing the CAA, she has refused to follow the footsteps of the Kerala government which has passed a resolution against the Act in its state assembly. The passage of a similar resolution was demanded by the primary opposition forces in West Bengal, Congress and Left.
Also the Chief Minister gave a call to boycott Opposition's Jan 13 meeting and fight against the CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC) alone.
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