CAA is dirty vote bank politics of the BJP, vote them out: Arvind Kejriwal

The Centre on Monday notified rules for the implementation of the CAA, four years after the Parliament passed the contentious law in 2019

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government over the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), calling it a “dirty vote bank politics” aimed at taking away jobs meant for India’s youth.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal addresses a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday. (PTI Photo)

“It is a dirty vote bank politics. If those people are brought to India and selectively settled in constituencies where the BJP is politically weak, the vote bank of the BJP will increase. Some people say that in the future elections, the vote bank will give BJP a big political advantage,” Kejriwal said.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener said, “Instead of finding solutions to unemployment and inflation, the government is talking about CAA. Under CAA, minority communities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan will be given Indian citizenship, which means that they will be brought to our country in large numbers, given jobs and houses. The BJP-led central government is not able to provide jobs to our youth, but to people from Pakistan. A large number of people in India are homeless and jobless, but the BJP wants to give our jobs to them, spend the money, which should have been used on the people of India, on their settlement.”

“The entire country demands that CAA should be withdrawn. We will not give our share of jobs to people from other countries. If it’s not withdrawn, people should express their anger by voting against the BJP in the general elections,” Kejriwal said.

The Delhi CM said CAA was designed to strengthen BJP’s vote bank in select constituencies and the cutoff date of 2014 would be extended in future.

“They are saying that those who have come to India before 2014 will be given citizenship. It is not like that. Once the doors (to the country) open, a large number of people will start coming into India. In the next election, the BJP will extend the cut-off date to 2024 and later extend it further,” he said.

“Over 30 million minorities live in these three very poor countries. Even if 15 million people come to India, who will give them jobs and where will they be settled? It is very dangerous for the country, especially for the northeast. The northeastern states are already suffering from it, especially Assam. The illegal migration from Bangladesh has affected the language and culture of the people of Assam. The BJP is saying that the illegal migrants will be given citizenship. The people of Assam are very upset,” the AAP leader said.

“BJP is the only party in the world which is going against the tide as no country in the world wants people from neighbouring countries to come into their country. BJP is the only party in the world that wants to open the doors for people from neighbouring countries to come. Around 1.1 million rich businessmen have left India in the last 10 years due to the wrong policies of the government. The BJP should bring such people back to India. If they invest in India, jobs will be created for our people,” Kejriwal said.

BJP slams Delhi CM

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva hit back at the CM and said Kejriwal speaks the language of people like Asaduddin Owaisi, Mamata Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi, and not only has the AAP leader hurt the sentiments of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Christian refugees, but also attempted to scare Indian Muslims.

“Through his press conference today, Arvind Kejriwal has proved that he is anti-Hindu, anti-Sikh and anti-Buddhist. He doesn’t even understand that CAA is a law to provide shelter to all needy people persecuted by ‘jihadis’ and not to strip anyone of their citizenship. Kejriwal either intentionally disrespects refugees or is unaware of how Muslim fundamentalism have persecuted Hindus and Sikhs, taken their jobs, and humiliated their sisters and daughters,” Sachdeva said.

Further, the BJP leader said, “Kejriwal should understand that refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan are our own and will remain so. He should not forget that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not only provided benefits of all schemes to all Indian Muslims, but also to Muslims from neighboring countries.”