Swedish Parliamentary Delegation Takes up CAA Issue With West Bengal Ministers, Opposition Leaders

Kolkata: A Swedish parliamentary delegation, on a visit to the country, took up the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) issue during an interaction

with West Bengal ministers and opposition leaders at the Assembly here on Thursday, Speaker Biman Banerjee said. The 10-member delegation asked about West Bengal's views on the CAA, Banerjee said.

"We told the delegation that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has emphatically declared that Citizenship Amendment Act will not be implemented in the state," he said. The delegation was told that a resolution brought by the government against the CAA was passed in the Assembly.

"The view of the state, the chief minister and the government is that the bill can never be implemented in West Bengal," he said while talking to reporters in his chamber in the Assembly, following the delegation's visit.

The delegation, led by Karin Enstrom, MP and former defence minister of Sweden, interacted with ministers and opposition leaders on parliamentary practices in the two

countries.

"They asked many questions, which our ministers answered to their satisfaction during the 1 hour 45 minute- long interaction," he said, adding that the visitors also

explained the Swedish parliamentary system to the senior members of the Assembly.

Leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan of the Congress, CPI(M) Legislature Party leader Sujan Chakraborty and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in West Bengal Tapas Roy were among those who participated in the interaction, along with the speaker.

Members of the delegation took a tour of the Assembly premises following the interaction.