Congress criticises govt over timing, Mamata says ‘will fight if people deprived of rights’

The Congress on Monday took a jibe at the Modi government over the timing of its decision to notify CAA rules, saying the notification move near the date of announcement of Lok Sabha election dates is “evidently designed to polarise the elections, especially in West Bengal and Assam”.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a post of X that the Modi government has taken over four years to notify the rules.

In her reaction to the government’s announcement, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said it is BJP’s “publicity for elections” and if the rules “deprive” people of their rights, she will fight against them.

“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 chief said at a press conference in Kolkata just before the gazette notification in this regard.

Jairam Ramesh said the government took nine extensions for the notification of the rules and the timing of the government move also appears to be an attempt to manage the headlines after the Supreme Court verdict in the electoral bonds case.

“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.

“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.

The announcement about the notification of the rules of the CAA comes ahead of the Lok Sabha elections expected to be held in April-May this year.

Ministry of Home Affairs spokesperson said on Monday that MHA will be notifying today, the Rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

“These rules, called the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024 will enable the persons eligible under CAA-2019 to apply for grant of Indian citizenship. The applications will be submitted in a completely online mode for which a web portal has been provided,” the spokesperson said in a post on X.

Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda responded to Mamata Banerjee’s remarks on the implementation of CAA and said “the people who see things only with the political lens might have a different opinion”.

“I won’t go into that. But the government wants to ensure that whatever is in the interest of the country, it should be done.”

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had in February said that the law would be implemented before the Lok Sabha elections.

The CAA Bill, which was passed in Parliament in December 2019, makes it easier to grant Indian Citizenship to persons belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have migrated to India after facing persecution on grounds of religion in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, if they fulfil conditions of citizenship.