Mumbai: Latching on to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s remark that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is not meant to throw Indian citizens out of the country, the state unit of the BJP asked him Wednesday to declare open and clear support to it.
Thackeray, in an interview to Shiv Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, said there was no need to fear the CAA, the enactment of which in December triggered nationwide protests, including in Maharashtra.
The Chief Minister, who is also the Sena president, however, asserted his government will not allow the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC) to be implemented as it would ‘impact people of all religions’.
“In his interview Thackeray said there are misunderstandings about the CAA, that the act is not aimed at throwing people out of the country. He should now declare open and clear position of supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act,” Maharashtra BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said in a statement.
Thackeray however said the NRC will impact Hindus, too. “I can confidently say the CAA is not meant to throw Indian citizens out of the country. But, the NRC is going to impact Hindus as well,” the chief minister was quoted as saying.
The Sena’s allies in the government, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), are opposing the CAA-NRC. The former BJP ally itself backed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) in the Lok Sabha, but did not take part in voting on it in the Rajya Sabha.
CAA’s critics say the law is discriminatory and violates the core values of the Constitution. The proposed NRC seeks to create a record of bonafide Indian citizens in the country and identify illegal residents.
PTI