Hyderabad: The Congress ignored the national interest by opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) due to appeasement and vote-bank politics, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday, and maintained there is no provision of stripping of anyone’s citizenship in the law.

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Addressing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) social media volunteers in Hyderabad a day after the Centre notified the rules of the CAA, passed by Parliament in 2019, Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi by “granting citizenship to the refugees fulfilled their dreams to live life with dignity”.

“The Congress refused to give citizenship to Hindu migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. But the BJP had promised that Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, Christians and Jains who were thrown away from these countries would get citizenship. Lakhs of people escaped persecution from these countries and we have decided to give them protection,” Shah said. “Within a few days, all these migrants will become Indian citizens and enjoy equal rights.”

Accusing the Congress of practicing appeasement politics, the home minister added: “We had said we will bring CAA. The Congress party opposed CAA. Since Independence it was a promise of the Congress and makers of our Constitution that citizenship will be granted to those persecuted on religious grounds in Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, who come (to India). But, due to appeasement and vote-bank politics, the Congress party opposed the CAA.”

In order to save their faith and honour, Shah said, lakhs and crores of people from Pakistan and Bangladesh came to India, but were not given citizenship. “They (refugees) felt insulted in their own country when they were not granted citizenship,” he said, adding that PM Modi honoured Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh refugees by granting them citizenship through the CAA.

The Centre on Monday implemented the CAA, notifying the rules four years after the contentious law was passed by Parliament to fast-track citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014. The rules granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants — Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians — from the three countries came into force with immediate effect, according to a Gazette notification.

Listing various achievements of the Modi government in the past 10 years, Shah asked BJP digital warriors to work hard in highlighting the work done by the Centre ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. He asked the social media volunteers to play the equal role to party’s conventional cadre.

“You should campaign the fact that Modi has provided a corruption-free, efficient government in the last 10 years. He made India the fifth-strongest economy in the world from 11th position. If elected again, he will make India the world’s third top economy,” Shah said.

Stating that the BJP fulfilled all its major promises made to the people in the 2019 party manifesto, such as the abrogation of Article 370, scrapping of triple talaq, and a law granting 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. On the other hand, the Congress rule in the past was replete with scams, he alleged.

Addressing a huge gathering of BJP booth-level workers at LB Stadium in Hyderabad later in the day, Shah hit out at those spreading “misapprehension” about the CAA, saying the law grants citizenship and would not take it away.

“…I want to tell the minorities of this country that no citizen of the country will lose citizenship due to CAA. The CAA is a law that grants citizenship and does not to take away anyone’s citizenship. I assure you there is no provision in CAA to snatch anyone’s citizenship,” he said.

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Stating that there is a huge wave for the BJP in Telangana, Shah set a target to win at least 12 of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the southern state in the general elections this summer.

“We are going to cross the 400-seat mark in the coming elections and Telangana must account for at least 12 MP seats,” he asserted.