CAA to be implemented before 2024 Lok Sabha polls: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said here on Saturday that in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the BJP will get 370 seats and the NDA will get more than 400 seats, adding that Narendra ·The third consecutive term in power under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.

Shah claimed that the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls was no longer in doubt and even the Congress and other opposition parties realized that they would have to sit on the opposition benches again.

“We abrogated Article 370 (of the Constitution), which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Therefore, we are confident that people across the country will bless the BJP with 370 seats and the NDA with over 400 seats .” Mr. Shah said at the ET NOW Global Business Summit 2024.

When asked about the possibility of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) led by Jayant Choudhary, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and some other regional parties joining the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Home Minister said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ” Believe in family planning but not in politics,” suggesting that more parties may join the governing coalition.

When pressed further, Sadh said: “Negotiations are ongoing but nothing has been finalized yet.” Mr Shah said the 2024 polls would not be an election between the NDA and the opposition blocs of India, but the BDP and elections between those who merely put forward slogans.

When asked about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, he said the Nehru-Gandhi descendants have no right to conduct such a procession as he party was responsible for the division of the country in 1947.

On the timing of the government’s submission of the white paper to Parliament, Shah said it was necessary as the country had every right to know what mess the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) left behind when it lost power in 2014.

“The economic situation was not good at that time (in 2014). There were scams everywhere. Foreign investment was not coming. If we had come up with a white paper at that time, it would have sent the wrong message to the world.

“But ten years later, our government has revived the economy, brought in foreign investment, and there is no corruption at all. So now is the right time to release the white paper.” He said.

Regarding the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Home Minister said that the people of the country have believed for 500 to 550 years that the temple should be built at the place where Lord Ram was born.

“However, construction of the Ram temple was not allowed due to the politics of appeasement and invoking law and order,” he said.

Regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Mr Shah said the law, which was enacted in 2019, will be implemented before the Lok Sabha polls after issuing rules in this regard.

“Our Muslim brothers are being misled and incited (against CAA). The purpose of CAA is only to provide citizenship to those who came to India after persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. It is not to snatch Indian citizenship from anyone, “He said.

On the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Mr Shah said it was a constitutional agenda signed by the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and others.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from associated news agency – PTI)