CAA rules after Covid precaution dose exercise: Shah to Bengal BJP leader

BJP leader from West Bengal Suvendu Adhikari Tuesday urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to implement the citizenship law CAA at the earliest, with the latter assuring him that rules regarding it will be framed after the Covid precaution dose vaccination exercise is over.

The framing of rules for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act will pave the way for its implementation. Passed by Parliament in December 2019, the Act is yet to be rolled out due to the absence of rules. The government has cited the outbreak of pandemic for not framing them so far.

During the West Bengal assembly polls in 2021, the BJP had promised the implementation of the CAA.

Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, told reporters after meeting Shah that he also handed him a list of nearly 100 Trinamool Congress leaders allegedly involved in the recruitment scam in which former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee has been arrested.

Seeking a wider probe to expose everyone involved in the scandal, Adhikari gave the home minister even letterheads of some TMC leaders, including MLAs, that were purportedly used for recommending certain names for jobs by allegedly taking bribes.

He tweeted after meeting Shah, "It's an honour for me to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah for 45 minutes at his office in Parliament. I briefed him how WB Govt is completely mired in corrupt activities such as the teachers recruitment scam. Also requested him to implement CAA at the earliest."

Adhikari told reporters that the issue of CAA, slammed by critics for its alleged anti-Muslim bias, implementation is very critical for West Bengal where a large number of people who can benefit from its provisions.

The CAA was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019, and the Act was notified within 24 hours on December 12. In May, while addressing a rally in Bengal, Shah had said that the law would be implemented once the Covid pandemic ends.

There is a view that the government is treading cautiously on the matter after the Act drew saw protests in different parts of the country. It seeks to grant citizenship to persecuted minorities of neighbouring countries, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who had come to India by December 31, 2014.

Speaking to reporters, West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumder also hit out at TMC leader and state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, alleging that without indications from her the recruitment scam could not have happened.

"It is an organised crime. There was a 'cut money food chain' and some people would be based in every district to pick money and channel it through the party (TMC) organisation," he alleged.

Adhikari said career of anywhere between 80-90 lakh teacher job aspirants were ruined by the scam. They have remain unemployed due to this, he said.