Who gave her the authority? BJP targets Mamata Banerjee for offering shelter to distressed people from violence-hit Bangladesh

BJP leader Amit Malviya said Banerjee did not have the authority of giving shelter to people from neighbouring nations since immigration and citizenship are exclusively in the Center’s domain.

"Who gave Mamata Banerjee the authority to welcome anyone in India? Immigration and citizenship are exclusively in the Center’s domain. The States have no locus-stand," Malviya said.

He claimed that INDIA, the country's key opposition bloc, was trying to execute the  'evil plan' of settling illegal immigrants from Bangladesh to Bengal and Jharkhand.

"This is part of I.N.D.I Alliance’s evil plan to settle illegal Bangladeshis from Bengal to Jharkhand, so that they can win elections," he said.

Jharkhand will soon vote to elect a new assembly.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said her state is ready to give shelter to 'helpless people' from Bangladesh where violent protests have been taking place for the past several days against reservation in government jobs.

Addressing her party's  'Martyrs' Day' rally in Kolkata, Mamata Banerjee said: "I cannot speak on Bangladesh since it is a sovereign nation. It is the Indian government which can comment on the situation in the country. However, if someone comes and knocks on our door then we will give them shelter. There is a UN resolution which says that neighbours should respect refugees."

Violence escalated in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka and other places over protests by students, demanding reforms to the quota system for government jobs.

The protesters are demanding an end to a quota system that reserves up to 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh's war of Independence in 1971 against Pakistan.

The quotas have caused anger among students who face high youth unemployment rates, with nearly 32 million young Bangladeshis not in work or education out of a total population of 170 million people.

Meanwhile, stipulating that 93 percent of recruitments will be on merit now, Bangladesh Supreme Court has scrapped most of the quotas in government jobs which had led to massive protests across the country and left over 100 people dead, media reports said.

The court’s Appellate Division dismissed a lower court order that had reinstated the quotas last month, reported Al Jazeera.

The court directed that 93 per cent of government jobs will now be open for candidates based on merit.