Mamata Banerjee claims fear of NRC drove 11 people to suicide

TIL Desk/National/Kolkata/ With the National Register of Citizens (NRC) becoming a political hot potato in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed on Wednesday 11 people have committed suicide fearing loss of citizenship, while senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kailash Vijayvargiya asserted the exercise will be undertaken in the state but no Hindu will be deported.

Banerjee, who has often been accused by the BJP of Muslim appeasement, asked Block Development Officers and public representatives to visit every household to assuage the concerns of people about getting stripped of Indian citizenship.BJP general secretary Vijayvargiya, however, insisted a NRC will be prepared in the state but no Hindu will be left out.

“So many people have died. 11 people have died so far over this NRC panic. I would ask government officials and public representatives to visit every household in their respective areas and allay public fear,” she told an administrative meeting at Debra in West Midnapore district. “There will be no NRC in Bengal,” she declared. The state’s Trinamool Congress government has also started issuing advertisements to television and print media asking people not to panic.