Amit Shah says NRC applies across India, Mamata Banerjee says not in West Bengal

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee says her Trinamool Congress government won't allow the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in her state.

She said on Wednesday that no one could take anyone's citizenship away in Bengal, and that her government wouldn't divide people on communal lines.

Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the NRC would be implemented across India, and that nobody, irrespective of his or her religion, needed to be afraid.

In Assam, the updated final NRC, which validates bonafide Indian citizens,



has left out over 19 lakh applicants.

The NRC aims to identify illegal immigrants -- primarily from Bangladesh -- who entered Assam and settled there after March 25, 1971, and deport them to their native country.

Amit Shah said in Parliament that people whose names are missing from the NRC can approach tribunals formed at the tehsil level.

The Assam government will provide financial help to those who don't have the money to file pleas, he said.

He said the government would bear the cost of hiring a lawyer.