BJP in poll-bound states exposed on CAA: Congress

Guwahati | In the run up to the five states’ elections, the double face of the BJP has been completely exposed on the issue of Citizenship (Amendment) Act — CAA, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said here on Thursday.

Baghel said that in West Bengal, Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that if the BJP government is formed, then the CAA will be passed in the first Cabinet meeting and it will be implemented at once in the state while the BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu are saying that CAA would not be enforced under any circumstances there.

“The BJP leaders have been completely silent on the issue of CAA in Assam. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is silent… Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is quiet. Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained silent on this issue during the election campaign and Shah also avoided the issue in each of his speech in election rallies,” said Baghel, who is campaigning for the Congress in Assam for the past one month.

Interacting with the media, Baghel said that former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has time and again announced that his party would not allow CAA to be enforced in Assam, under any circumstances.

“Among the five guarantees given by the Congress, we have promised that rigorous attempts will be made by the party to repeal this law that threatens to divide people,” the Chief Minister said.

Assam Congress leaders also condemned the statement of Amit Shah that there were no protests in Assam in the last five years.

“Shah wants to simply obliterate the anti-CAA uprising that happened in Assam. He wants to deny the existence of those young boys like Sam Strafford and Dipanjol who lost their lives in police firing by Sonowal police force. What can be more unfortunate for the people of Assam than this?

“None of the BJP leaders neither had the time nor the empathy to visit the family of the anti-CAA movement martyrs whereas our leader Rahul Gandhi visited Hatigaon and Chaygaon to share the pain with their parents,” a Congress party statement said.

The Congress, which was in power in Assam for 15 consecutive years (2001-2016) has formed a 10-party ‘Mahajot’ (grand alliance) with three Left parties – CPI (M), CPI and CPI (ML) — along with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), the Anchalik Gana Morcha, Bodo People’s Front, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) along with two community-based parties – Jimochayan (Deori) People’s Party (JDPP) and Adivasi National Party (ANP).

The 126-member Assam Assembly will go to the polls in three phases on March 27 (47 seats), April 1 (39 seats) and April 6 (40 seats).

The results will be declared on May 2.

IANS

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