CM Mamata lashes out at Rajnath solo tour of border enclaves

TEEN BIGHA, Cooch Behar: Union home minister Rajnath Singh's visit to Teen Bigha on Tuesday raised more heat and dust than reassure stakeholders on the exchange of enclaves between India and Bangladesh.
While Singh claimed the Centre was keen to push through the exchange, his solo visit, keeping the state government out of the loop, went against NDA's avowed intent of keeping Trinamool Congress on board on this lingering Indo-Bangla issue."The exchange of enclaves should happen as soon as possible," Singh said after passing through several enclaves and speaking to officials, but couldn't give a deadline.
A miffed chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who is now in North Bengal, wrote in a Facebook post: "No prior discussion or consultation about the visit was made with us, though enclaves and law and order fall within the jurisdiction of state government. Even though I am now in North Bengal with a prior programme, I have only re ceived a fax message of his tour programme. I think in our federal structure, we must respect each other's jurisdiction." The CM also questioned the purpose of the home minister's visit. "Was it a political visit or an official one?" she asked.
READ ALSO: Row over Rajnath Singh's visit to enclaves as Mamata questions motive
The home minister, however, was dismissive about the CM's complaint. "I am on a border visit. What purpose will the state government serve by coming here?
The district administration did provide necessary support," Singh said. The home minister, however, said he might meet Mamata on the is sue of land acquisition for bor der outposts. "There are problems in fencing the entire border. We also require more BOPs but there is a problem with land acquisition. We have already written to the state government in this regard. If necessary, I shall meet the chief minister on this issue," he said.

Rajnath Singh during his visit near the India-Bangladesh international border in Cooch Behar district of West Bengal on Tuesday. (PTI photo)
During his brief stopover at the Teen Bigha corridor, the Union home minister crossed over to Bangladesh, inspected a guard of honour by Border Guard Bangladesh and interacted with Bangladeshi officials and journalists. "I assure you that the exchange of enclaves will take place," he assured.
The 119th Constitution Amendment Bill, 2013, on exchange of 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and 51 Bangladeshi ones in India has been pending for nearly one and a half years. BJP was one of the main opponents of the Bill when the UPA government brought it up in Parliament in 2013. As leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley had written to the chairman of the House on December 5, 2013, expressing his opposition to the exchange of enclaves.
Likewise, Mamata had initially communicated to former National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon her opposition to the exchange primarily on three grounds — Bengal would get back only about 7,000 acres but have to cede nearly 17,000 acres to Bangladesh, local consent is needed on the issue, and a proper rehab package should be spelt by the Centre.
In 2014, however, Mamata signaled a policy shift when she told in a public meeting in Cooch Behar that people's aspirations were paramount. Late last year, the party gave up its rabid opposition to the exchange in a parliamentary standing committee meeting and gave its nod to the Bill being placed in Parliament subject to its conditions being met. Mamata, herself, communicated her stand to Bangladeshi premier Sk Hasina Wajed and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While those living in Indian enclaves have warmed to the idea of transfer to India, the same is not true for Bangladeshi enclaves. Many residents of these enclaves have already acquired voter I-cards and other identification documents and enjoying all benefits due to Indian citizens.