Published 10:15 IST, December 27th 2019
GVL Narasimha Rao accuses Cong of lying over CAA, retorts 'was Manmohan Singh communal?'
BJP Rajya Sabha MP GVL Narasimha Rao accused the Congress party of adopting a contradictory stance with reference to the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019.
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BJP Rajya Sabha MP GVL Narasimha Rao accused the Congress party of adopting a contradictory stance with reference to the Citizenship Amendment Act. Maintaining that Congress was lying on the aspects of the CAA, he questioned whether Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr Manmohan Singh and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot could be branded “communal” for demanding citizenship to minorities from Pakistan. Moreover, he called upon Congress to apologise for implementing the National Population Register in 2010 if it was such a bad idea. Rao also clarified that the detention centres were only in Assam and most of them were created during the Congress regime.
GVL Narasimha Rao remarked, “In the last few weeks, Congress party is repeatedly telling lies. They said that the CAA is against the Constitution. Was Pandit Nehru communal? Was Manmohan Singh communal? Both of them had put forth the demand in Parliament that the minorities from Pakistan should get Indian citizenship. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot put forth the demand in 2012 that Hindus and Sikhs coming from Pakistan should be given citizenship.”
He added, “If National Population Register is a wrong act, then why did you commit this wrong act in 2010? Have you apologised to the nation for committing a wrong act? Detention centres are only in Assam. These detention centres were set up during the Congress regime.”
What is the CAA and NPR?
The CAA seeks to provide citizenship to the minority communities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This will be applicable to the members of these communities having arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014. There have been a series of protests against this legislation across the country. On the other hand, the NPR is a register of usual residents of the country being prepared at the local (village/sub-town), sub-district, district, state and national level under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003. Under the NPR, a usual resident is defined as a person who has resided in a local area for the past six months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next six months or more.
(With ANI inputs)
10:15 IST, December 27th 2019