Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee hit back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah today on his complaint that the centre is not "getting support" from the Bengal government in its attempts to control illegal infiltration on the India-Bangladesh border.
In Guwahati to inaugurate the party office, Mr Banerjee said, "Is there anything in public domain that the centre can show to the world that the West Bengal government is not co-operating with centre on anything?"
On checking illegal infiltration along Bangladesh border, Mr Banerjee said it was the Border Security Force's responsibility as they man the border.
"It is the centre's job to secure the border... Just because they have a government from the same party in Assam doesn't mean they are doing a fair job. There are several parameters on which Assam is lagging behind," said Mr Banerjee, who is Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew.
This was Mr Banerjee's first visit to Guwahati after the Trinamool formed its Assam state committee under the leadership of Ripun Bora, former Congress MP and ex-Assam Congress chief who has recently joined the Mamata Banerjee led party.
The TMC general secretary also questioned the BJP's stand on the issue of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
"When the home minister was in Assam, his tone on CAA is different from when he is in Bengal. He never talks about CAA in Assam. CAA is a jumla for BJP, they are taking so much time to frame the clauses of the laws. it has been two and a half years, and they are yet to form the laws," he said.
The Trinamool Congress is eyeing next year's elections in Tripura and Meghalaya and is hoping to emerge as the strongest opposition party in Assam.
"We will contest the elections in Tripura and Meghalaya to the best of our ability," said Mr Banerjee.
"You have seen the kind of violence that the BJP has unleashed in Tripura. Our leaders, workers, and supporters have been targeted. They are also coming down heavily on the opposition and journalists. We will fight this," he added.
Mr Banerjee said in Assam, their focus is "not to replace any political party but to create a space" for the TMC.
He said, "The BJP always builds a narrative saying that the TMC is from Bengal. But in the same way, even the BJP is a party from Gujrat. While I can vouch for the fact that in Assam, the TMC won't run from Bengal, can Amit Shah and Himanta Sarma vouch that BJP will not run Assam from Gujarat?"
