West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday strongly condemned the issuance of a National Register of Citizens (NRC) notice to a resident of Cooch Behar by the Assam Foreigners Tribunal, describing it as a “pre-planned and dangerous conspiracy” aimed at undermining democracy and the constitutional rights of the people of Bengal.
Mamata lambasted the government of Bengal’s neighbouring state after Uttam Kumar Brajbashi, a member of the Rajbangshi community and a resident of Dinhata in Cooch Behar for over 50 years, received a notice suspecting him of being a “foreigner” or “illegal infiltrator,” despite holding valid identity documents.
Brajbashi has relatives in Assam and, by profession, is a small-time farmer.
Reacting sharply to the development, Mamata said, “I am shocked and deeply disturbed. This is a planned attack on democracy. The BJP government in Assam is trying to impose NRC in Bengal without any constitutional authority.”
She accused the ruling party at the Centre and in Assam of deliberately targeting marginalised communities by questioning their citizenship and threatening to strip them of their voting rights.
The TMC supremo described the NRC move as a “politically motivated attack” on Bengal’s social fabric and called on all opposition parties to unite against what she termed the BJP’s “divisive and repressive politics.”
“Bengal will not remain silent,” she warned, emphasising the need to resist any attempt to undermine democratic and constitutional values.
In 2019, Assam published its final NRC list, excluding nearly 19 lakh people who allegedly lacked sufficient documentation to prove Indian citizenship before 1971.
While the BJP-ruled Assam government has pushed for stricter verification, the West Bengal government has consistently opposed the NRC, calling it a “humanitarian crisis in the making” that could lead to mass disenfranchisement.
Mamata also alleged that this step is part of a larger conspiracy to erase the identity of Bengal’s people, especially those from marginalised and minority communities.
“This is not just an administrative move. This is a strategic attempt to break the social and constitutional structure of Bengal,” she said.
With state elections scheduled in both Assam and West Bengal in 2026, political observers believe the NRC issue may be used as a tool to polarise voters.
“While the Assam government appears to be intensifying the NRC narrative, the TMC fears similar tactics could be deployed in Bengal to question the legitimacy of its vote bank,” said political science professor Bishnupriya Dutta Gupta, adding, “Mamata Banerjee will leave no stone unturned in portraying the NRC as a political weapon of the BJP, aimed at targeting minority communities who constitute nearly 30 per cent of Bengal’s electorate and are considered the ruling TMC’s vote bank.”
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