Citizenship Act perfectly constitutional says BJP leader Madhav

Bhubaneswar: National General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Ram Madhav on Tuesday said that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is meant to provide shelter to refugees, and is perfectly constitutional.

“The Act is meant to provide shelter and support to refugees. The Opposition is acting against the very character of this country. We have always given shelter to refugees and that misinformation is being spread in the country,” Ram Madhav said during a press conference here.

He also outlined that large number of citizens were supporting the Citizenship Amendment Act.

“People in huge numbers are showing their support to CAA since we started dispelling rumours and spreading the truth about the Act. We have their support, the Opposition is indulging in violence and many other activities and we will tell people the truth,” he added.

“We are confident, whatever we have done is perfectly legal, and as per Constitution,” Ram Madhav responded to a query on Kerala government’s step to move Supreme Court against Citizenship Amendment Act.

Earlier today, the Kerala government moved the Supreme Court against the Citizenship Amendment Act, saying, the Act is against the basic principle of secularism.

Supreme Court had said on Friday that it will hear all petitions related to CAA on January 22.

Protests erupted across the country after the CAA was passed by Parliament in December last year.

The Act grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.