Will implement CAA once COVID vaccination drive is over, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) will be implemented once the COVID vaccination drive is over.

Shah gave this assurance to Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of opposition in West Bengal assembly, when he met him in Parliament House to take up the matters related to the functioning of BJP in West Bengal as well as the organisation issues, according to Indian Express report.

After the meeting, Adhikari said the home minister has conveyed to him that the central government will go ahead with the long-pending implementation of the CAA — that seeks to give citizenship to illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians — once the third dose of Covid vaccination is completed.

Also read: Why Bangladeshi Hindus don’t view India’s CAA as a saviour

The government has launched the precautionary dose vaccination in April and it is expected to be completed in nine months.

Adhikari also took up other issues related to the BJP’s ongoing political fight with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) that is ruling West Bengal. Adhikari said he had given a list of 100 TMC leaders against whom there should be action on corruption.

Shah firm on CAA

In May this year, during his first visit to West Bengal since Mamata Banerjee rode to power for a third consecutive term as chief minister in 2021, Shah had reiterated that the controversial law would be implemented after the “Covid wave” ends.

“The Trinamool Congress is spreading rumours about CAA — that it won’t be implemented on the ground. I would like to say that we will implement it [CAA] after the Covid wave ends. The CAA was, is and will be a reality,” Amit Shah said during a BJP rally in north Bengal’s Siliguri district.

Shah’s statement had drawn a retort from TMC chief Mamata Banerjee: “They are not winning 2024. CAA is their plan. Why are they not bringing it up in Parliament? They cannot play a one-sided game,” she had said at a press conference in Kolkata. “We don’t want any citizen to be left out, unity is our strength. After one year, he [Amit Shah] has come here, he should hide his face.”

The CAA was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019 and got notified the next day. The central government though is yet to frame rules for the Act although there have been vociferous demands from different quarters, including from the north-eastern states.

Shah has maintained that the CAA will be enforced despite vehement protests from opposition parties.

Also read: Will bring back CAA once pandemic gets over: Amit Shah in West Bengal