BJP, Congress continue to spar over CAA, NPR

The Capital city witnessed several rounds of protests on Friday too, but the BJP reiterated its stand on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and said the Opposition is trying to destabilise the country. Congress, which is launching a flag march for ‘protecting the Constitution’, said the economy will not revive unless the Centre takes along every section of people.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, attending a public function in Raipur, hit out at the Centre over the ‘deteriorating’ economy and said India cannot be run without involving every section of the society. In a veiled attack on the government over the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Gandhi also said that nothing can be gained by making people fight among themselves. “You know the condition of the country. What is happening in other states...,” he said, in an apparent reference to the CAA and NRC. You all know the problem of farmers’ suicide, deteriorating condition of the economy, unemployment. There is no need to repeat all these,” he added.

“But I would like to say that without taking people from every religion, every caste, tribals, Dalits and backwards together, the economy of the country cannot be run,” Gandhi said.

“You (Centre) do whatever you want, but unless you take people along and unite the country, you cannot do anything to tackle the problem of unemployment and economy. Nothing can be gained by breaking things. The country cannot benefit by making people fight among themselves,” he added. “If you (Centre) give the entire money to just 10-15 people of the country, implement demonetisation and unscrupulous GST, then neither can employment be generated nor can the economy be strengthened,” he said.

‘Playing politics’

The BJP countered by saying that the aim of the ongoing protests is to destabilise the country. Union Cabinet Minister and senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar said, despite the Oppositions’ efforts to mislead the people, they are supporting the Centre on CAA and the National Population Register.

He attacked the government of West Bengal and Kerala for “playing politics” over the NPR. “The NPR does not involve any monetary transaction and its data is used to identify the poor so that government welfare schemes could reach the targeted people,” he said, reiterating the Centre’s stand that the NPR exercise was done in 2010 as well.

Embarassing the party

He alleged that Rahul Gandhi is speaking lies on the matter. “When Rahul Gandhi was Congress president, he would say anything and speak lies all the time. Now he is no longer president but continues to speak lies. If there were a category of the liar of the year, he would be its recipient. His comments used to embarrass his family. His lies now embarrass his party and entire country,” Javadekar said.

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal meanwhile said the Congress leaders will undertake ‘flag marches’, carrying the message of “Save Constitution-Save India” across the country. “They will also read the preamble of the Constitution in their respective languages at public meetings organised for this purpose. Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi will join the programme in Guwahati, Assam tomorrow (Saturday), with other senior leaders participating in their respective States,” Venugopal said.

Meanwhile, Left wing organisations, Students Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) held protests in front of the Uttar Pradesh Bhawan here against the alleged police brutalities in the State. The protestors, including DYFI national president Mohammed Riyaz, were arrested by the Delhi Police.

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