Centre on a weak wicket over CAA protests: Adhir Chowdhury

Leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, on Thursday claimed that the Union government is on a weak wicket following countrywide protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act as it did not anticipate such a mass uprising.

On union ministers' scheduled visit to Kashmir to inform people of various development initiatives of the government, Chowdhury said he has been asking the Centre to send an all-party delegation under the leadership of Lok Sabha speaker to the valley.

"The union government is now on a weak wicket following countrywide protests over CAA. They never anticipated such a massive protest. They are puzzled and that is why they are now saying that there is no need to show any document for NPR," Chowdhury told reporters here.

Union ministers may visit Kashmir but it would not yield any result, the Congress leader claimed. "I had suggested that an all-party delegation be sent to Kashmir. But the union government remained mum on it. Now they are sending a ministers' delegation to Kashmir. It would be of no use as people would hardly express their true feelings towards them," he said.

Chowdhury also criticised West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for holding a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Kolkata last week. "Her political theatrics stands exposed. If she really wanted to talk to him over financial demands of the state, state finance minister and finance secretary should have accompanied her. This is a farce. We all know about the tacit understanding that both the parties have," he said.

Facing flak from opposition parties for meeting Modi, Banerjee had called it a "courtesy meeting". Referring to the recent transfer of CBI officers who were investigating Saradha and Rose Valley Ponzi scheme, Chowdhury said, "Those who have been investigating the case since the beginning were shunted out all of a sudden. It is a result of the meeting at Raj Bhawan that took place between the prime minister and the chief minister,".

The CBI on Thursday said it has transferred from the city four officers who were involved in the investigations into the Saradha and Rose Valley ponzi scams and Narada tapes scandal, from the city.