CAA will be in force before Lok Sabha polls: Home Minister Amit Shah
Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will be notified and implemented before the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, home minister Amit Shah said at the ET Now Global Business Summit on Saturday.
He criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's caste, saying the opposition party was twisting facts and creating controversy.
The legislation is aimed at conferring citizenship on persecuted non-Muslim migrants, and not to take that status away from anyone, said Shah. It was passed by the Parliament in December 2019, sparking protests at the time, but hasn't been implemented yet. The general elections are expected in April-May.
«CAA is an act of the country; it will definitely be notified. It will be notified before the polls. It will be implemented by the polls, and there should be no confusion around it,» Shah said. «CAA was a promise of the Congress government.»
Rahul Gandhi Policy to Lie Publicly, says Shah
«When the country was divided and minorities were persecuted in those countries, Congress had assured refugees they were welcome in India and they would be provided with Indian citizenship. Now they are backtracking,» said the home minister.
Shah said the minorities, particularly Muslims, are being provoked into opposing it.
«CAA cannot snatch away anyone's citizenship because there is no provision in the Act,» he said. «CAA is an Act to provide citizenship to refugees who were persecuted in Bangladesh and Pakistan.»
Under the law drawn up by the Modi government, Indian
