Narayanpur (West Bengal), Feb 18: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday had lunch at the home of a refugee family in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas, a few days after announcing on the campaign trail that the Centre will roll out the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) after the Coronavirus pandemic.

During his visit to the state to flag off the BJP’s yatra, Shah had lunch at the residence of Subrata Biswas, a refugee from Bangladesh.

“Had lunch at Subrata Biswasji’s home in Narayanpur village, South 24 Parganas (West Bengal). I thank Biswasji and his family from the bottom of my heart for such warmth and hospitality,” Shah tweeted.

A BJP leader said that ancestors of Biswas arrived in West Bengal from East Pakistan, now known as Bangladesh and have been living in poverty ever since.

Earlier this month, Shah had announced that the process of giving citizenship under the CAA would begin as soon as the Covid-19 vaccination drive ends.

The raking of the CAA issue regularly by the BJP and especially by Shah has all set to polarise the upcoming polls in the state and the party believes it will help in consolidating the votes of those who are against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

BJP’s raking up the CAA issue in the state has criticism from its political rivals. “Shah’s decision to have lunch with a refugee family whose ancestors moved to West Bengal from Bangladesh will clear doubts about its implementation in our rivals’ minds. The BJP is committed to implement CAA and it will do it in the future,” said a party leader.

A BJP leader said that today’s lunch with refugee family establishes the party’s commitment to give citizenship under the new law. “The Home Minister having lunch at a refugee family shows that the government is concerned about their plight and will address it the coming days despite opposition from political rivals,” he said.

(IANS)