Warangal: BJP defends CAA, blames Congress for the row

Warangal: The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will in no way adversely affect any Indian citizen, BJP leader and former MP AP Jithender Reddy said. Speaking at a workshop on CAA, National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), organised by the BJP Warangal Urban unit here on Thursday, he said that Indian citizens, including Muslims, continue to enjoy the fundamental rights conferred on them by the Constitution.

Referring to the Opposition parties' dissent on the CAA, NPR and NRC, Reddy quashed them as misinformation campaign to tarnish the image of BJP-led Central government.

"The BJP will organise Jana Jagaran Abhiyan to hit back at the Opposition parties, which have been resorting to mudslinging at the Central government by spreading misinformation about CAA, NPR and NRC," Reddy said. He dwelt at length about the importance of CAA, NPR and NRC, and how to counter the Opposition's campaign to make them contentious.

He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had brought in CAA to set right the mistake of dividing the country on the basis of religion at the time of Independence. He found fault with the first Prime Minister Pt Jawaharlal Nehru for the communal differences in the country. "Against this backdrop, the BJP government introduced the CAA and it in no way affect the interests of the Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and other minorities," Reddy said. He said that minorities, who once constituted 30 per cent in Pakistan population, has now come down to just 3 per cent.

Accusing the Congress of trying to divide the nation on communal lines, he appealed to people not to believe in Opposition parties' misinformation. The former MP also criticised the TRS government's stand on CAA.

Later, BJP vice-president Marthineni Dharma Rao, State general secretaries G Premender Reddy and Chintha Samba Murthy also spoke on the CAA. BJP Warangal Urban district president Rao Padma, former legislators Kondeti Sridhar, mandadi Satyanarayana Reddy, Vannala Sriramulu, BJP State executive member Dr Vijayalaxmi, G Yadagiri, Ravula Kishan, Puli Sarotham Reddy and Rao Amarender Reddy were among others present.