Union Minister Shantanu Thakur boldly declared in West Bengal that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) would be enacted nationwide by the next week.
“I can guarantee that in the next seven days, not just in West Bengal, but the CAA will be implemented across India,” the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) declared in Bengali while addressing a meeting of booth workers on Sunday in Kakdwip, South 24 Parganas district.
Amit Shah declared in December last year that “no one can stop it”—that is, the central government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party would implement the CAA. His comments were directed at West Bengal Chief Minister and leader of the Trinamool Congress, Mamata Banerjee, who has been adamantly against the CAA.
Attacking Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over issues like infiltration, corruption, political violence, and appeasement in the easter state, Shah said “No one can stop” the implementation of CAA in the country.
Thakur, a prominent BJP leader in West Bengal, is a member of Parliament from Bangaon Lok Sabha constituency and Minister of State for Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways of India in PM Narendra Modi’s government.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019, and got the President’s assent the very next day, following which it was notified by the MHA. About 83 persons died and several were injured in the protests that followed its passing.
The CAA has been at the forefront of widespread demonstrations across India and the Opposition’s resolute opposition to it since it was approved by both Houses of Parliament and the President in 2019. It has been in limbo as the Center has not yet framed the CAA’s guidelines or put the statute into effect.
