NEW DELHI: The contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) may not be implemented at least till July as the committees on subordinate legislation of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have been granted extension up to April 9 and July 9, respectively, by the Ministry of Home Affairs to frame its rules.
In other words, it will not come into play before the West Bengal elections that are expected in April-May.
The numerically significant Matua community the BJP is banking on in Bengal, has been pressing the party to implement the CAA immediately.
But the Centre is in no hurry as the CAA passed in December 2019 amid unprecedented chaos in Parliament, led to violent protests across the country.
Junior home minister Nityanand Rai told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday the rules were still “under preparation”. He was responding to questions by Congress member V K Sreekandan.
“The Committees on Subordinate Legislation, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have granted extension of time up to April 9 and July 9, respectively, to frame these rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019,” he said.