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‘Try speaking 10 lines’: BJP’s Nadda throws CAA challenge to Rahul Gandhi
Assam Accord fixed March 24, 1971, the cut-off date for residency and promised to deport the rest. The cut-off date in the CAA is December 2014. BJP working president, JP Nadda said the Centre will implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord in “letter and spirit” to address the indigenous people’s concerns.
BJP working president JP Nadda repeated his challenge to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to speak ten sentences on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), in a virtual kick-off to party’s 2021 re-election campaign in Guwahati.
Party leaders launched an aggressive counterattack in Guwahati despite Assam being one of the hotspots for anti-CAA protests. Senior BJP leaders blamed the Congress for misleading on CAA and promised to safeguard the state’s interest and claimed the saffron party will sweep 100 of the 126 seats in the 2021 assembly polls.
“I want to challenge Rahul Gandhi from this stage. Try speaking 10 lines on CAA and in two lines, tell us why you are protesting against the CAA,” Nadda said.
Nadda said Congress’ opposition to the contentious act was solely driven by vote bank politics.
“It is about granting citizenship and not taking it away. But your intentions are not right. You are not inspired by the love for the country but only concerned about politics. You don’t see the country, you only see vote bank. The vote is bigger than the country for you,” Nadda said, tearing into the Congress.
He also tried to lay to rest suggestions that the CAA will lead to foreigners’ influx in the northeast including Assam.
“They are claiming so many crores will come. They will not come. They are already here from the days you (Congress) were in power,” Nadda said, addressing the meeting attended by booth presidents and workers of the BJP.
BJP’s General Secretary Ram Madhav, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and senior minister Himanta Biswa Sarma were also in attendance.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi had addressed a public meeting at the same venue in Guwahati on December 28 attacking the BJP and the RSS for the CAA.
The local groups including the All Assam Students Union (AASU) have been spearheading the massive anti-CAA protest in the state, alleging the law was against the Assam Accord.
Assam Accord fixed March 24, 1971, the cut-off date for residency in the state and promised to deport the rest. The cut-off date in the CAA is December 2014.
Nadda said the NDA government at the Centre will implement Clause 6 of the Assam Accord in “letter and spirit” to address the indigenous people’s concerns.
“To protect Assam’s culture is our responsibility, it is Bharat Mata’s responsibility which we will fulfil,” Nadda said.
Last year, the Centre had formed a high-level committee for the implementation of the Clause 6 of the Assam Accord which says, “Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.”
Meanwhile, Madhav and Sarma claimed the BJP will again form the government in the state in 2021 polls with at least two-thirds majority.
Sarma said the party was prepared to fight AASU if it chose to enter electoral contest. He also attacked Badruddin Ajmal who leads the AIUDF, a political party with influence among the Bengal-origin Muslims in the state.
“Till there is the last drop of blood in our bodies, we will continue to fight against the likes of Badruddin Ajmal,” Sarma said.
Congress said it was the BJP that was misleading by claiming it is implementing the Assam Accord.
“The BJP has killed Assam Accord by bringing in the CAA. How can they claim that they are implementing it? It was during the Congress regime that most work on implementing the promises of the Assam Accord happened,” said R Konwar, spokesperson of the Assam unit of the Congress.
