'CAA won't be implemented in Maharashtra,' says Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat

Maharashtra Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat on Saturday stated that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) would not be implemented in the state of Maharashtra. This comes a day after the Home Ministry said in a notification that the provisions of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will come to force on January 10. 

"Anti-CAA protests are being held across the country. The Congress party is extending full support to the people as the Act is against the Constitution. The CAA will not be implemented in Maharashtra," said Thorat.  

Read: 10,349 farmers committed suicide in 2018: NCRB

'Centre did not support the state' 

Speaking about farmers' distress in Maharashtra, Thorat said that the government was working towards freeing the farmers from their loans. Maharashtra has consistently recorded the highest number of farmer suicides."Maharashtra is a drought-hit state. Farmers were debt-ridden. Thus, there was an increase in farmers' suicide. The Centre did not support the state. There were just more speeches than fulfilling the promises," he said.

At least 10,349 people working in the farm sector ended their lives in 2018, accounting for 7.7 per cent of the total number of suicides in the country which was 1,34,516, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Majority of suicides were reported in Maharashtra (17,972) followed by Tamil Nadu (13,896), West Bengal (13,255), Madhya Pradesh (11,775) and Karnataka (11,561)

Read: 'Sena with Tukde gang': BJP slams Aaditya Thackeray attending CAA event with Umar Khalid

'We are against JNU violence' 

Speaking about the violence that broke out at the campus of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Thorat said that they were strongly against it. "It is strange that those who were attacked, an FIR is being lodged against them. We condemn this. We are against it," he told ANI. 

"It is very evident who is behind the brutal attack on the JNU students. The power-hungry BJP is now baying for the blood of these students. The BJP, who is known to stoop to any level to be in power, is now targetting students in the dead of night," said Thorat. 

(With Agency Inputs)

Read: Aaditya Thackeray slams BJP over pro-CAA campaigns at schools, says 'mustn’t be tolerated'

 Read: Aaditya Thackeray, Javed Akhtar to share stage with Umar Khalid in Anti-CAA event