Lok Sabha elections: Will pass citizenship bill if voted, says Amit Shah

KORAPUT

: With an eye on the votes of Bengali settlers, who play a decisive role in the Nabarangpur

Lok Sabha

seat, BJP national president Amit Shah said once his party returns to power at the Centre after the 2019 general elections, the Citizenship (Amendemnt) Bill-2019 will be passed in Parliament.

While addressing a rally at Umerkote in

Nabarangpur district

on Monday, Shah accused the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for opposing the bill. "The bill could not be passed in Parliament because the BJD opposed it," Shah said.

At least 10 million Hindu refugees from Bangladesh will get Indian citizenship if the Bill is passed and it could work as a vote bank for the BJP. There are over one lakh Bengali settlers in Nabarangpur LS seat. The Bengalis, who migrated from Bangladesh in the early 70s, live in 213 villages of

Malkangiri district

and 64 villages of Nabarangpur district. However, BJD's candidate for Nabarangpur LS seat

Ramesh Chandra

Majhi said that the BJP's trick to lure the Bengali settlers will never succeed.

The BJD government has been taking care of the Bengali settlers and in 2014 general election, the Bengali voters had exercised their franchise in our favour. "Also, this time they will go with the BJD and I am hopeful of winning the election," said Ramesh.

Congress candidate for Nabarangpur LS seat Pradeep Majhi said, "The Bengali settlers in the area are very intelligent and they will never get trapped in the false promises of the BJP". They have always used their votes judiciously and this time too they will do the same, he said.