India: Opposition slams decision after Centre notifies CAA rules ahead of polls

The Indian government on Monday (Mar 11) announced the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act by notifying its rules but the opposition was quick to slam the government over the decisionand linked it to the upcoming Lok Sabha polls due in April-May.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to the social media platform X and termed the announcement as the BJP's latest move to polarise the elections, especially in West Bengal and Assam.

"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," he wrote.

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"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.

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh questioned why the government was announcing the decision now after ten years.

"Why did they delay it so much, and if they are implementing it, why not after the elections? Their sole objective is to make every issue a Hindu-Muslim issue. This goes against our Constitution," he said while talking to reporters.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan reacting to the announcement said that it was aimed at "disquieting the nation".

"The Central Government's notification of the Rules to the Citizenship Amendment Act in the wake of the elections is aimed at disquieting the nation. The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued the notification regarding the CAA, just ahead of the announcement of the elections to the Lok Sabha. This is to divide the people, incite communal sentiments and undermine the fundamental principles of the Constitution. This move to stratify Indian citizens who have equal rights, must be opposed unitedly," he wrote in a post on X.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that centre's decision to notify CAA is against country and that people would respondto it in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

"After ruling the country for ten years, Modi government has brought CAA before the elections. At a time when the poor and middle class are groaning due to inflation and unemployed youth are struggling from door to door for employment, instead of solving those real issues, these people have brought CAA," the Delhi CM wrote in a post on X.

"This is strongly opposed especially by the people of Assam and the entire North-East India, who have been victims of migration from Bangladesh and whose language and culture are in danger today. BJP has betrayed the people of Assam and the entire North Eastern states," he added.

Senior Supreme Court advocate Sanjay Hegde, who was appointed as an interlocutor by the Supreme Court to talk to the anti-CAA protestors at Shaheen Bagh in 2019-2020, reating to the announcement said, "it was surprising that the government did not find time earlier to notify the CAA rules. The Act has been challenged in the Supreme Court, there has been no specific stay, the matter hasn't been heard for some time. In the meanwhile, the rules have been notified and I am sure that in respect of the implementation of rules, there will be appropriate petitions filed. It is possible that the government wanted to notify these rules before the Model Code of Conduct comes into play."

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said, "give asylum to anyone who is persecuted but citizenship must not be based on religion or nationality. The govt should explain why it kept these rules pending for five years & why it’s implementing it now. Along with NPR-NRC, CAA is meant to only target Muslims, it serves no other purpose."

Reacting to the government's announcement, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that it was ruling BJP's "publicity for elections" and if the rules "deprive" people of their rights, her party 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.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi slammed the Central government for implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, claiming the law is based on Mahatma Gandhi's murderer Nathuram Godse's thought and alleged that it will reduce Muslims to second-class citizens.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav slammed the BJP for releasing the CAA notification and claimed that itwas its “game of distraction”.

Meanwhile, security was beefed up in the national capital Delhi and across the country after the announcement.

The rules for implementation of this citizenship act will facilitate the granting of citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed in December 2019, and it got the president's assent. The law, however, could not come into effect so far as rules have to be notified for its implementation.

(With inputs from agencies)