Attacking Congress leader P Chidambaram, Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Congress of misleading people about the Citizenship Amendment Act on April 23. Speaking to ANI, he said, “Since the 1960s, Congress made appeasement politics its weapon to win elections. We had been fighting against this for years. Since 2014, PM Modi set the development agenda among people and elections began in the country on the basis of that. Congress is facing difficulty in contesting elections on the basis of development, they have continuously lost elections. They want to go ahead once again on the basis of appeasement politics. Chidambaram doesn’t say what are the shortcomings of CAA, he just says that they will scrap it. Why? Because they have to strengthen their minority vote bank. BJP stands firm on its principles. We will not do injustice to anyone.”
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has been a topic of controversy since its implementation in 2019. The act aims to provide citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh who entered India before December 31, 2014. Critics of the act argue that it discriminates against Muslims and violates the principles of secularism enshrined in the Indian constitution.
The Congress party has been a vocal critic of the CAA, and has pledged to repeal the act if it comes to power. The BJP, on the other hand, has defended the CAA, arguing that it is necessary to protect non-Muslim minorities in neighboring countries.
The debate over the CAA is likely to continue in the lead-up to the next general election in India, which is scheduled to be held in 2024.
