Union Home minister Amit Shah was in Lucknow addressing a rally in support of CAA. He called for a public debate on the legislation that had triggered the country-wide protest and forced BJP to launch CAA awareness campaign to awaken the people in favour of it.
Addressing the rally, Amit Shah cleared out straight, “Protest as much as you can, CAA will not be taken back.” Shah also lashed out Congress’s Rahul Gandhi as well as West Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and called them for an open public debate on the citizenship act during the rally.
“The anti CAA parties are spreading propaganda and spreading illusions, that is why BJP is running Jan Jagaran Abhiyaan (Public awareness Campaign) against those who break the country,“ said Shah.
“Let it be very loud and clear to our opponents that citizenship law won’t be taken back at any cost irrespective of protests,” Shah said. He further clarified that the amended law will enable the government to give citizenship to non-Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
The minister reiterated that there is no provision of taking the citizenship of anyone, anywhere under CAA and said that people would rather get India’s citizenship.
“I have introduced this bill in the Lok Sabha. I want to tell the opposition that you should discuss this bill publicly. If it can take away the citizenship of any person, then prove it and show it,” he said.
Shah’s address in Lucknow was his first political rally after relinquishing the post of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief in keeping with ‘one man, one post’ principle of BJP. It was one among the six rallies by top BJP leaders that the party has planned in UP on the citizenship law.
Newly-elected BJP chief JP Nadda will be in Agra on Thursday to drum up support for the recent amendment in the act. Defence minister Rajnath Singh and Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari, both former BJP chiefs, will also be holding rallies in UP.
