CAA was passed by the Parliament in 2019 but the government is yet to notify its rules.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA will be implemented across the country in the next seven days and this is my guarantee, Union Minister Shantanu Thakur told a gathering in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas on Sunday.
Thakur, also a BJP MP from Bangaon, said that the Ram temple inauguration has been done and now the central government will implement the CAA not just in West Bengal but across the country.
“The Ram mandir (temple) in Ayodhya has been inaugurated, and within the next seven days, the CAA will be implemented across the country. This is my guarantee. Not just in West Bengal, the CAA would be implemented in every state of India within a week,” he said while addressing the rally.
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The Citizenship (Amendment) Act was passed by Parliament in December 2019. The Bill triggered massive protests across the country, leading to delay in its implementation.
The Act will come into force only after the rules are notified. So far, the government has not done that.
According to reports, the government is planning to notify the rules before the Lok Sabha elections.
However, whether it will be done in the next seven days remains uncertain given there is no official word from the government.
What is the Citizenship Amendment Act?
The Narendra Modi-led BJP government brought the CAA Bill in 2019. It was cleared by Parliament in December 2019 and became the Act after the President’s nod.
Under the controversial CAA, Indian citizenship will be granted to non-Muslim migrants – Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians who entered India from Pakistan and Afghanistan on or before December 31, 2014.
The BJP has been accusing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of misleading people on the CAA issue.
In December last year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that no one can stop its implementation but didn’t reveal when the rules will be notified.
While Mamata Banerjee’s party TMC has been opposing the implementation of the CAA, the BJP has made the issue its major poll plank in West Bengal. The issue was one of the key poll promises of the BJP ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections and Assembly polls in West Bengal.
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