‘BJP’s publicity stunt for polls’

After India yesterday announced the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act, reactions started to pour in from the opposition leaders, who accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre of resorting to 'deviation' and 'publicity' ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, reports Times of India.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who has opposed the CAA tooth and nail, has said that she would fight against the rules if it "deprives" people of their rights.

"Let me see the rules first. The notification has not been issued yet. If people are deprived of their rights under the rules, then we will fight against it. This is BJP's publicity for elections, it is nothing else," the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee said at a press conference in Kolkata.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan yesterday described the CAA as a law that creates division along communal lines and affirmed that it will not be put into effect in the southern state.

"The government has repeatedly stated that the Citizenship Amendment Act, which treats Muslim minorities as second-class citizens, will not be implemented in Kerala. That remains the position. All of Kerala will stand united in opposing this communally divisive law," Vijayan said in a statement.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh meanwhile said that the time taken by the government to notify the rules for the CAA is "another demonstration of the Prime Minister's blatant lies".

"It has taken four years and three months for the Modi Government to notify the rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act that was passed by the Parliament in December 2019. The Prime Minister claims that his Government works in a business-like and time-bound manner. The time taken to notify the rules for the CAA is yet another demonstration of the Prime Minister's blatant lies," Jairam Ramesh said, added Times of India.

"After seeking nine extensions for the notification of the rules, the timing right before the elections is evidently designed to polarise the elections, especially in West Bengal and Assam. It also appears to be an attempt to manage the headlines after the Supreme Court's severe strictures on the Electoral Bonds Scandal," he added.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has called the implementation of CAA rules BJPs' game of distraction. He also said that the government at the centre should also explain why lakhs of citizens gave up their citizenship of the country during their 10-year rule.

"When the citizens of the country are forced to go out for livelihood, then what will happen by bringing 'citizenship law' for others? The public has now understood the BJP's game of politics of distraction," Yadav said in a post on X.

"The BJP government should explain why lakhs of citizens gave up their citizenship of the country during their 10 years of rule. No matter what happens tomorrow you have to give an account of 'Electoral Bond' and then also of the 'care fund'," Yadav added.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief and MP Asaduddin Owaisi said "CAA is divisive and based on Godse's thought that it wanted to reduce Muslims to second-class citizens".

"Aap chronology samajhiye, pehle election season aayega, phir CAA rules aayenge (First the election season will come and then will come CAA) . Our objections to CAA remain the same. CAA is divisive and based on Godse's thought that it wanted to reduce Muslims to second-class citizens. Give asylum to anyone who is persecuted but citizenship must not be based on religion or nationality," Asaduddin Owaisi posted on X.