'No question of stepping back,' says BJP's Ranjeet Kumar Dass on CAA in Assam
Many indigenous groups in Assam and other northeastern states fear that CAA would lead to an influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, which in turn could hurt indigenous communities.
Ranjeet Kumar Dass, the president of the Bharatiya's Janata Party's Assam unit, on Monday asserted the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA is here to stay and "there is no question of stepping back," ANI reported. Calling the act an "ideological commitment of the BJP," the party leader assured that it will not cause any harm, according to ANI. "We will definitely implement it, rules will be formed," he added.
In 2019, CAA sailed through Parliament and was made law after President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent. The law seeks to give citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from neighbouring Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. The law triggered massive protests across the country with Assam being the epicentre of that agitation. Many indigenous groups in Assam and other northeastern states fear that CAA would lead to an influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, which in turn could hurt indigenous communities.
The Congress released its manifesto for the assembly elections on March 20, promising to nullify CAA by bringing a law in the state. Focused on "five guarantees", the Congress also promised to raise the minimum wages of tea garden workers to ₹365.
Reacting to Congress' promise to block CAA in Assam, Kumar Dass said, "I can bet that Rahul Gandhi doesn't know anything about CAA. Even our booth level workers know more about CAA than Gandhi," ANI reported.
The BJP's national president JP Nadda is scheduled to unveil the party's manifesto for the upcoming assembly elections in Assam on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the Congress, which is in direct contest with the ruling BJP, on Sunday and said that the party doesn't have the vision or the ideology to take Assam to new heights. He also said that Congress' sole intention is to secure power in the state. 'Doosri Baar, BJP Sarkar' has been decided in Assam, PM Modi also said.
Assam is scheduled to hold the assembly election from March 27 in three phases and the votes will be counted on May 2.
