BHUBANESWAR: The opposition Congress on Monday criticised BJD over Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s proposed pro-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) rally in the Capital scheduled later this month. They wanted Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to make his Government and party’s stand on the event clear.
Shah will be on a two-day visit to Odisha from February 28 during which he is slated to address a pro-CAA public meeting.Raising the issue in Assembly during Zero Hour, deputy leader of the Congress Legislature Party Santosh Singh Saluja said BJD MPs supported CAA in both Houses of Parliament. But the Chief Minister after meeting a delegation of the minority community in Bhubaneswar had said the State will not support the NRC. BJD’s one stand for CAA and another for NRC has been creating confusion among the people, he said and sought to know whether the BJD leaders would also join Shah in the rally or maintain a distance.
Amid criticism over the BJD’s support to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament, the Chief Minister had in December assured Muslim and Christian community members that he was not in favour of a nationwide NRC implementation.