NEW DELHI, Dec 21 - Faced with massive turmoil over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA), the BJP on Saturday announced a mass contact programme to �expose the Opposition parties� lies�. The fresh outreach campaign is also to make the people aware of the details of the CAA and also to assure them that it is not against any Indian citizen.
The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by BJP working president JP Nadda here today, convened to formulate the party�s strategy over the issue amid protests in various parts of the country against the new provision in the CAA and the proposed creation of a National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Briefing newsmen, party general secretary Bhupender Yadav said that the BJP within the next 10 days will contact more than three crore families, organise a rally in every district and hold over 250 press conferences across the country to inform masses about the new law.
He also accused Opposition parties, especially the Congress, of spreading misinformation in a bid to disturb peace across the country during recent protests which have claimed several lives. Yadav said BJP will also involve beneficiaries of the amended law in its information campaign about the statute.
On Thursday, Nadda had asserted that the CAA will be implemented and the NRC will also be brought in.
Nadda made these remarks here after meeting Sikh refugees from Afghanistan, who under the amended Act will become Indian citizens. He also slammed the Opposition for protesting against the new legislation.
He said BJP�s rivals are protesting for vote bank politics while ignoring the plight of minorities of three neighbouring countries living in India. �These people have been living in India for 28-30 years but ... they do not have citizenship. Our rivals cannot see anything beyond their vote bank politics,� he said.
�The Citizenship (Amendment) Act will be implemented, so will be the NRC in future,� he told newsmen.
A delegation of these Sikhs met Nadda at the BJP headquarters here and thanked the party for bringing changes in the citizenship law. These Sikhs had left Afghanistan nearly three decades ago and arrived in India to protect their faith, Nadda said.
The BJP leader said the documentation process to grant them citizenship will be done quickly so that they could join the mainstream.
Asked about opposition from several parties, including the Congress, TMC and the Left, he quoted Home Minister Amit Shah�s statement in Parliament that they were speaking the same language as Pakistan on the issue.
