Devendra Fadnavis slams opposition for CAA unrest, says 'it is for vote bank politics'

Leader of Opposition and BJP stalwart Devendra Fadnavis on Friday, December 27, slammed the opposition parties for creating "unrest" amid the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) across the country.

Speaking to the media just before participating in an awareness rally organised by the BJP, the former Maharashtra CM said, "The opposition is deliberately trying to create misunderstanding among Indian Muslims about the Act." 

Fadnavis added, "The opposition is trying to create unrest for vote bank politics. All the leaders who are refusing to implement the act in their state do not respect the constitution. All the laws passed by the Parliament have to be implemented by all the states. If they oppose it, they do not respect the constitution." 

BJP's CAA awareness rallies

Amid the protests and links between the CAA and the National Population Register (NPR), BJP has planned to undertake an outreach program to rubbish the fake news and myths surrounding the same. This was decided on Thursday after BJP's top brass met in a high-level meeting chaired by working president JP Nadda.

As per sources, BJP's top leadership including Home Minister and party president Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will take part in awareness campaigns from January 1 to January 15 next month. 

The party's first rally to spread awareness about the CAA has been carried out on Friday, December 27 in Mumbai of which Devendra Fadnavis and other leaders were a part of it. 

Read: Anti-CAA protests: 317 arrested, over 70 cases registered in UP's Meerut for violence 

Protests against CAA

The Citizenship Act was passed in the Lok Sabha on December 9 and then by the Rajya Sabha on December 11. The Act seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.

Through this bill, Indian citizenship will be provided to the members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from the three countries to India till December 31, 2014, and put an end to them being treated as illegal immigrants in the country. 

Read: No detention centres in Bengal till I'm alive: Mamata Banerjee's anti-CAA stir escalates

Several violent protests have been erupting across Assam, West Bengal, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh against the newly amended Citizenship Act, following the violence at Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi where over 50 students were detained by police during the protests.

Along with it, students across the country staged protests in solidarity. The anti-CAA movement has spread to more places like Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pondicherry, Patna and so on. 

Read: Amit Malviya, Meenakshi Lekhi slam Cong over NPR row, accuse them of double talk

Read: Hardeep Puri's Shocker: 'Will pelt stones at those lying on CAA,' threatens BJP leader