Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Friday assailed the BJP government at the Centre for the recent clashes in Delhi and questioned it on the urgency to bring in the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, over which protests have raged across the country.
Speaking to reporters in Indore after launching works worth ₹900 crore, Mr. Nath asked, “Is there an ongoing war or an influx of refugees that the Modi government had to enact the CAA? What was its need? Has any disaster hit us?”
He added that though surveys had been conducted in the past too, “misconceptions” were being spread now causing fear among people about losing their citizenship.
On Tuesday, four ASHA workers carrying questionnaires to identify tuberculosis patients were threatened and driven away from a slum in Indore when locals suspected them to be undertaking the National Population Register update exercise.
Mr. Nath said the clashes were “a matter of grief and concern” as the country’s culture promoted “connection of hearts”.
‘JD(U) is right’
As for the Bihar Vidhan Sabha passing a resolution against the proposed National Register of Citizens, Mr. Nath said, “Those in the government there are with the BJP, and they’re openly making such statements on citizenship. For the BJP, the JD(U) is right, but we are wrong.”
