Protests over CAA, NRC have erupted in several parts of the country and has claimed nearly 15 lives in Uttar Pradesh. (Express file photo by Vishal Srivastav)
The Congress on Sunday reacted sharply to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s accusation that the party is misleading people on the new Citizenship Amendment Act by calling it anti-Muslim and asserted the government had created an “environment of fear, uncertainty”.
The severe criticism from the Opposition came immediately after Modi delivered an hour-long speech at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan in which he said his government schemes had never discriminated on the basis of religion.
Congress leader Anand Sharma said, “Environment of fear, uncertainty created not by us, but by home minister’s statement in both houses that NRC will come.”
“Prime Minister should provide healing touch, should call a meeting of National Integration Council to discuss issues such as NRC, CAA,” added Sharma as protests against the new law continues in several parts across the country.
Modi drew flak for his speech from various quarters, including Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who accused the PM of misleading the country in his name, PTI reported.
PM and Union Home Minister have mentioned me in their speeches.
On the one hand PM and Home Minister say that people need not be scared of #CAA and on the other hand they say that #NRC will be implemented in the whole country. This duplicity won’t work.— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) December 22, 2019
“Earlier it was Amit Shah in Parliament and today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is misleading the country by taking my name. What do they want to say? Was it wrong to write to then home minister P Chidambaram for making facilities available to those who had come to the border areas of Rajasthan from Pakistan after facing persecution,” Gehlot asked in a tweet.
Modi, in his speech, earlier today, had referred to to the Rajasthan CM while targetting Congress on the amended law.
Gehlot also took a dig at Amit Shah and said, he was provoking Muslims by announcing that NRC would be implemented in the entire country, despite the fact that it could not be implemented successfully in Assam.
In his speech, Modi had hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her strident opposition to the amended citizenship law and the proposed nationwide NRC, accusing her of changing her earlier stand on infiltrators due to “vote-bank” politics.
“Mamata didi reached the UN (United Nations) from Kolkata. A few years ago, she used to plead in Parliament to stop Bangladeshi infiltrators and help the persecuted refugees from there,” he had said adding that government has not discussed NRC so far either in Parliament or in Cabinet.
Banerjee, however, hit back at Modi saying the prime minister is publicly contradicting what Home Minister Amit Shah has been saying on nationwide NRC.
“Whatever I said is there in public forum, whatever you (PM) said is there for people to judge. With PM contradicting Home Minister (Amit Shah) publicly on Nationwide NRC, who is dividing fundamental idea of India? People will definitely decide who is right & who is wrong,” she tweeted.
(with PTI inputs)
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