‘Neither Cong will ever come to power…’: Amit Shah on Chidambaram's ‘repeal CAA’ vow

Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday hit back at senior Congress leader P Chidambaram who declared that the INDIA alliance will repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and three new criminal laws if voted to power after the Lok Sabha elections.

"There is a long list of laws among which five laws will be absolutely repealed. Take it from me, I am the chairman of the manifesto committee. I wrote every word of it, I know what the intention was. The CAA will be repealed, not amended. We have made it clear," PTI quoted Chidambaram as saying on Sunday. Union home minister Amit Shah and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram.

“The CAA will be repealed in the first session of Parliament in which the INDIA Bloc forms the government,” the former Union home minister added.

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In a scathing attack at Chidambaram, Shah said that neither the Congress will ever come to power nor the laws i.e The Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 (CAA), Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Addhiniyam, will ever be revoked.

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“Congress leaders are talking about abolishing those laws that empower the common people of the country and protect their rights. Blinded by the politics of appeasement, Congress has lost its nerve upon seeing its crushing defeat in the first phase,” the minister said.

Asserting that the priority of the BJP-led government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to provide Indian citizenship and secure the rights of persecuted Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Christian, Sikh, and Parsi communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, Shah said that the CAA represents the fundamental principles of the Constitution.

“P. Chidambaram is insulting the dreams of the architects of the country's independence who advocated for these laws, by talking about scrapping them. CAA is the nation's law, and it ensures that no one can stop citizenship from being granted to the brothers and sisters of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Christian, Sikh, and Parsi communities who have suffered religious persecution and come to India,” Shah added.

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“Congress is hell-bent on harming Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Christian, Sikh, and Parsi communities to appease its vote bank. It is a Modi Guarantee each individual from persecuted minority communities who have come to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh will receive citizenship through the CAA, and no one can stop it,” the minister declared.

On the three new criminal laws, Shah said that the Modi government abolished 150-year-old laws and attributed Indianness to the legal system,

“But the Congress still does not want to abandon its mentality of slavery. Therefore, these people are objecting to these laws, which are fragrant in the country's soil, while the justice system of the country is praising them openly,” he said.

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‘Congress only indulges in appeasement politics’: Amit Shah

Accusing the Congress of only indulging in appeasement politics, Shah said that the grand old party leaders after reading the crushing defeat written for them on the walls have lost their nerve.

“That iswhy they are working on their appeasement policy again. After the first phase of voting, the Congress clearly understood that the people of the country are determined to bloom the lotus once again with a strong majority, so now the Congress is making its last-ditch attempt,” the minister added.