By not attending a meeting of Opposition parties convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday to deliberate on the current political situation following protests against the amended Citizenship Act and the violence on campuses, the BSP, the AAP and the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC have showed that they would not toe the line of Congress.
The Opposition is seeking to win over the youth and the students by supporting their protests against the amended citizenship law and any National Register of Citizens (NRC). But the ruling party is putting its best efforts to drive home the message that the law is not against anyone living in India.
Last week, Sonia Gandhi had termed the CAA as a “discriminatory and divisive” law whose ‘sinister’ purpose was to divide people on religious lines, and asserted that the NPR (National Population Register) in form and content was ‘disguised NRC (National Register of Citizens)’.
The joint Opposition move also assumes significance as it comes soon after Delhi Assembly election dates have been announced. Taking on the opposition, Union Home Minister Amit Shah alleged that the ‘falsehood’ spread by the Opposition on the Citizenship Amendment Act has created anarchy in the country.
‘Before Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, there was no sense of fear in any country regarding the borders of India,’ Amit Shah said and added that after Modi assumed office, the security status of our borders has changed. “After Modi became PM, the security of the borders of our country became the top priority, which is why we see a change regarding the same today,” Shah said.
He asserted that the new law is meant to give citizenship to people and not to take it away. He also urged the BJP workers to launch a door-to-door campaign to make people understand the provisions of the new legislation. People are watching everything and they can’t be taken for a ride with false propaganda.