Mayawati accepts Amit Shah's challenge, says BSP ready to debate on CAA
LUCKNOW: Picking up the gauntlet thrown down by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, both the regional satraps – Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav – expressed their readiness to have a debate on the issue here on Wednesday.
While Mayawati said her party was ready to accept the challenge handed out by Shah over CAA, Akhilesh Yadav modified it by saying that he wanted to have a discussion over development.
Union Hime Minister Amit Shah, at a rally in Lucknow on Tuesday, had challenged Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and other opposition leaders to
have an open debate over CAA.
In fact, the BSP chief was the first one to react to Shah’s challenge by taking to Twitter on Wednesday. In one of her posts, the BSP chief said her party accepts the challenge and was ready for the public discussion over CAA/NRC/NPA at any forum and at any place.
“The government, disturbed by protests against the controversial CAA/NRC /NPR, in the entire country, especially the youth and women, has challenged the Opposition to debate on the matter. The BSP accepts the challenge to debate on it at any forum and at any place,” Mayawati tweeted.
Meanwhile, SP president and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav’s retort to Shah came on Wednesday when he said that he was ready to debate with the BJP but the issue, he added, would be development.
Talking to media persons after offering tributes to the SP icon and socialist Janeshwar Mishra on his 10th death anniversary, Akhilesh said: “Let the BJP decide the place and the time for the debate and I will reach there. But the topic of debate will be development, employment, youth, farmers etc,” he stressed.
Akhilesh charged the BJP of digressing from real issue plaguing the country at present by throwing up divisive issues to divert country’s attention from its failures.
Referring to Shah’s remark on the CAA, the former CM said the kind of language being used by the BJP leaders was unbecoming of a politician. He pointed out the SP was not the only party to oppose the CAA but even common citizens, including women and children, were on roads against the ‘discriminatory’ law.
“How long will the BJP continue to discriminate against citizens on the basis of religion?” he questioned. “They can’t suppress people’s voice by riding high on the brute majority which they have,” maintained the SP chief.
In the same vein, Akhilesh reiterated his demand for a caste census in the country. He claimed that saffron party was not ready for this because a caste census would put an end to Hindu-Muslim conflict.
According to the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, to escape religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.
It does not include Muslims.
Those opposing the CAA contend that it discriminates on the basis of religion and violates the Constitution.
They also allege that the CAA along with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is intended to target the Muslim community in India.
However, the central government has dismissed the allegations, maintaining that the law is intended to give citizenship to the persecuted minorities from the three neighbouring countries and not to take away anyone's citizenship.