The political acrimony over the issue of citizenship and population register grew bitter on Friday with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declaring the CAA will not be implemented in West Bengal as long she was alive and the BJP calling Rahul Gandhi "liar of the year" for saying the NPR and the NRC are a "tax" on the poor.
As protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) continued in several parts of the country including in the national capital, Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Congress of spreading rumours that Muslims may lose their citizenship in the wake of this Act.
CPI (M) leader Brinda Karat said the Centre was using the CAA, the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens(NRC) as a "trishul" (trident) to attack people.
Addressing an event in Naihati in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee said no one can snatch away the rights of the people of the country, like citizenship.
"As long as I am alive CAA will not be implemented in Bengal. No one has to leave the country or the state. There won't be any detention centre in Bengal," the Trinamool Congress(TMC) supremo said.
Launching a fresh offensive against the Modi government, Rahul Gandhi likened the NPR and the NRC to demonetisation, and said these exercises are a "tax" on the poor, who will suffer the same way they did after the note ban in November 2016.
Gandhi was talking to reporters at the Raipur airport after attending the inaugural function of the National Tribal Dance Festival.
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"Whether NPR or NRC, it is a tax on poor people of the country. You understand demonetisation. It was a tax on poor people. Go to banks and give your money but do not withdraw money from your account. Entire money went to the pocket of 15-20 rich people. This (NPR or NRC) is the same thing," he said.
He was responding to a query on the Centre's assertion that the NPR has no link with NRC.
"Poor people will have to go to officers and show their documents and give bribe. They will have to give bribe if there is a slight mistake in their names. Crores of rupees will be pulled out of the pockets of the poor and will be given to the same 15 people. This is the truth. It is an attack on the people," Gandhi said.
Gandhi's remark that the NPR and the NRC are a tax on the poor drew a sharp retort from the BJP with senior party leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar saying they have "embarrassed" people and his Congress party.
Javadekar said 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.
A similar exercise was undertaken in 2010 as well, he added. The Congress-led UPA was in power in 2010.
"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 told reporters in Delhi.
Speaking at a rally at the historic Ridge Maidan in Shimla to mark the second anniversary of the BJP government in Himachal Pradesh, Amit Shah accused the Congress of misleading people over the CAA.
Shah also made it clear that the legislation had no provision to take away citizenship.
"The Congress and company is spreading rumours that Muslims may lose their citizenship," he said.
"I challenge Rahul Baba that let me know if there is even a single line in the Act regarding the withdrawal of anyone's citizenship. Don't misguide and divide people over the CAA," he added.
Shah said he wanted to ask the minorities, especially Muslims, to look into the CAA, which was now available on the government website.
"Go through the Act. No one will lose citizenship," he added.
Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Devendra Fadnavis said the CAA does not take away the citizenship of any Indian national.
The BJP is creating awareness among people that the Act intends to help the minorities from neighbouring countries who have faced religious persecution, the former chief minister said.
Talking to reporters before participating in a rally organised by his party in support of the CAA, the Congress leader accused the opposition of misleading Indian Muslims.
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