Terming the Citizenship (Amendment) Act “anti-people”, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Wednesday said the law would not be implemented in the State, and the BJP had showed its “real intention” by clubbing together the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).
Calling upon citizens to protect the Constitution, Mr. Nath told reporters the BJP was attempting to mislead people. “Even we want the NPR, but Union Home Minister Amit Shah himself has said in Parliament that the NRC would be implemented across the country. By clubbing them together, he’s made his intention clear.”
Led by Mr. Nath, Congress workers from across Madhya Pradesh took part in a rally here against the Act and the proposed nationwide implementation of the NRC.
“They are running a campaign to divert everyone’s attention. Madhya Pradesh is the heart of the country, and from here we want to highlight the Centre’s attempts at imperilling the future of generations,” he said.
Congress workers during the anti-CAA rally in Bhopal on Wednesday.
More than 50,000 workers from the districts, along with Cabinet Ministers, marched down the 1.5-k.m. stretch from the Rangmahal square to the Minto Hall (Old Vidhan Sabha complex). The Congress had given a call to district party presidents to mobilise workers for the ‘Samvidhan Bachao Nyaya Shanti Yatra.’
Mr. Nath said any law that was “anti-people, anti-Constitution, anti-social and anti-religion would never be implemented in the State under the Congress regime.”
He added, “It’s no more about what’s included in the Act, but what’s left out. This is no more about its use but misuse.”
Meanwhile, the BJP has announced it would launch a campaign next month to “clear the air” around the Act and attempt to “delink” it from the NRC among people in the State .
Assailing Mr. Nath for taking out the rally, former Chief Minister and BJP vice-president Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “According to the Constitution, the right to grant citizenship is exclusively with the Centre. When both the houses of Parliament have passed the law, does a Chief Minister have the right to launch a march in the name of peace and intimidate people? How can he say such a law will not be implemented in the State?”
Whether it was Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee or Mr. Nath, he said, “they should first demit office and then take out such marches.”
