West Bengal’s Cooch Behar will vote in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections and BJP candidate Nisith Pramanik, who is also MoS Home, is busy with his election campaign to woo voters.
Speaking exclusively to CNN-News18, Pramanik said the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will not take away anybody’s citizenship as he accused chief minister Mamata Banerjee of not cooperating with the MHA for border fencing to keep Rohingyas out.
Edited Excerpts:
How’s the josh on the ground?
A lot of meetings are taking place. When I see people blessing me, this josh increases.
What has changed in Pramanik in the last five years? Last time you decided to ditch the TMC.
I was a newcomer when I went to Parliament. I learnt various things. When PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah gave me an opportunity to work, I went to the home ministry. Shah is a Yogi Purush. No institution can make me learn as much as I have learnt from Shah.
Why should people vote for you?
People know that if they come to me with their problems, there will be some solution. People have blessed me. The love of people will give me an opportunity to win again. It’s not that I sat in an AC room after I became minister. I worked for people from morning till night. I meet people as an ordinary party worker.
Will CAA have any effect in your constituency? Mamata Banerjee has said that those applying for CAA will become foreigners.
Matua, Rajbangshi, and all other communities are happy with CAA. This is a law which gives rights instead of snatching them. Mamata Banerjee can say anything she wants. CAA has become a law. If anybody opposes it, then it’s clear that the person is “deshdrohi”. A lot of people raised a hue and cry when Article 370 was scrapped in J&K. Even during the Ram Mandir inauguration in Ayodhya, some people tried to rake up a row. Banerjee is trying to instigate people but nobody believes her. She is misguiding people for her own benefit.
What about the minorities?
Through CAA, people who have been tortured in other countries will get justice.
This time, TMC has also fielded a Rajbangshi candidate. Do you think the vote will be divided?
Not at all. People know what I did. They will definitely vote for us.
Will Ram Mandir will have any effect on voting? What about the Ram Mandir in Cooch Behar that you got constructed?
Ram Mandir has no relation with votes. It is linked to people’s emotions as we waited for 500 years to get it. In Cooch Behar, people wanted a Ram Mandir and I made it as I am Hindu and proud of my religion. If another religion comes and requests me to make a Masjid, I will do that also.
Violence has been a big factor in Cooch Behar. What is your view?
TMC’s second name is violence. The way fish cannot stay without water, TMC cannot stay without violence. That’s the reason TMC has been rejected by people. I am telling you that this time we will get more than 30 seats.
Will you demand more CAPF in the state?
We definitely want more central force. You must be careful too as you can be attacked by TMC.
How confident are you and what will you do if you win?
People will definitely elect me here. Earlier, all projects would be inaugurated from Delhi. Now, national projects are inaugurated from Cooch Behar. The four-lane and six-lane roads are all made by the Narendra Modi government. Modi-ji wanted a ‘Khelo India’ center everywhere and we have achieved it.
We also wanted to fence the unfenced land but Banerjee did not agree. Why is she allowing such infiltration? Whom does she want to invite? The MHA had asked for land but Bengal has not yet given it. More than 350 kilometres is unfenced here.
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