CAA has nothing to do with NRC, attempts to mislead the nation deplorable: Yogi

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath charges the Congress-led opposition with making "deplorable attempts" to mislead the nation on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday charged the Congress-led opposition with making "deplorable attempts" to mislead the nation on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Addressing a rally here organized in support of the contentious legislation, the firebrand BJP leader asserted that the CAA is about granting citizenship and not taking it away and in no way linked to NRC, which was an exercise undertaken in Assam at the instance of the Supreme Court. Lavishing praise on the Narendra Modi government at the Centre for its "decisiveness" in dealing with issues like triple talaq, Article 370 and the CAA, Yogi said this had "forced those who sought to rule by fatwas, without any regard for the Constitution, shut their shop".

"The Balakot airstrike signalled the rise of a new India, which refused to buy the Congress logic than Pakistan cannot be dealt with a firm hand since it is atomic power. "The abrogation of Article 370 is a step further in the direction and today Pakistan is living in the fear that it may lose even PoK to India", the BJP leader said evoking wild applause from the crowds.

He said India has the age-old tradition of giving shelter to those who seek refuge but driving out infiltrators. This is what CAA is all about. Taking a swipe at Congress, Yogi said the party has the temerity of opposing the CAA in the name of Constitution, which it had strangled by the imposition of Emergency.

The countrywide anti-CAA protests are a "conspiracy" hatched from afar by those resentful of a united and grand India and these are being aided by a "crooked" opposition, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath alleged.

The firebrand BJP leader charged that those opposing the legislation were committing the "paap" (sin) of working against national interests. Sushil Kumar Modi (Bihar Deputy CM) and Sanjay Jaiswal (state BJP chief) have very well articulated how the CAA is about granting citizenship to persecuted refugees and not about taking it away from anybody, he said.

"For taking such a step, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah deserve acclaim. Instead, they are being attacked", Yogi lamented. "Protests are taking place across the country and a 'kutil' (crooked) opposition is adding fuel to the fire. But the people of the country need to understand that it is a conspiracy hatched from afar.

"The strings are being pulled by those who are resentful of 'Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat' (united India, grand India) which is becoming a reality under Modi", he claimed.

Seeking to underscore that the Modi government did not discriminate against people on the basis of their religious identity, Yogi asked so many people have benefitted from the welfare schemes like Ujjwala Yojana and the Ayushman Bharat Yojana.

"Was anybody asked, before being included as a beneficiary, as to what is his or her religion or caste?", he remarked. But those feeling threatened by the new India keep looking for an opportunity to thwart Modis efforts to build Ek Bharat, Shreshth Bharat, he said.

"This new India does not cower, like the Congress did, before Pakistans atomic power. "The neighboring country is today fearful that it may end up losing even the PoK, after the Article 370, which Jawaharlal Nehru wrongly introduced, was abrogated", the UP CM said evoking wild applause.

The monk-turned-politician, who also heads the Gorakhnath Temple, began his speech recalling his spiritual ancestors' deep links with Gaya and the ancient links between eastern UP and this central Bihar town pointing out that Lord Buddha came from Kapilavastu situated in Siddharthnagar district in the adjoining state and attained Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya.

In the town after which a reserved Lok Sabha constituency is also named, Yogi appealed to Dalits reverence for B R Ambedkar. "The revolutionary-turned-freedom fighter Sri Aurobindo had said that the biggest virtue, in current times, is to work for national interest and the biggest sin is to work against it.

The opposition is committing the paap (sin). To understand this you should take the contrasting examples of Ambedkar and Jogendra Nath Mandal", Yogi said. "Ambedkar remained loyal to his country while Mandal fell for Jinnah's designs, helped the creation of Pakistan and became a minister in that country.

"While Ambedkar is a revered figure, Mandal felt so stifled in Pakistan that within a decade he resigned and came to Kolkata where he spent his last years living a life of anonymity. Let it be known to all whoever works against national interests shall be condemned to a similar fate", he added. He said while coming to the venue he was bemused to see posters put up on the walls by the RJD-Congress combine opposing CAA in the name of the Constitution.

"A party which had strangled the Constitution by imposing the Emergency has the audacity to do so", Yogi said taking a swipe at the grand old party. The Congress always surrendered before those who ran their "shops of fatwas" and expected the country to be run as per their decrees and not the Constitution. They never cared for the humiliation faced by Muslim women because of triple talaq and it required a Narendra Modi to illegalize this practice, he said.

"Congress, similarly, played a scare-monger on Ram temple issue, claiming blood will be spilt on the streets if the matter was taken to its logical conclusion. Now it has been settled once and for all and on this auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti I declare that Ayodhya in my state will soon be ready with a Ram Mandir", he added. Before ending his speech, Yogi said he would like to underscore the need for the society at large to be on guard against "deplorable attempts" (kutsit cheshtaein) to mislead the nation on CAA.

He exhorted those gathered at the programme to fan out and tell the people that this law is about granting citizenship and not taking it away and that it has nothing to do with NRC. NRC was an exercise that took place in Assam, upon the Supreme Courts direction, the UP CM added.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Tejashwi Yadav is scheduled to attend a dharna against CAA in the evening here at Shanti Bagh, barely a km away from Gandhi Maidan, the venue of Yogi's function. As part of the BJP's nationwide pro-CAA campaign, party president and Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to address a rally in Vaishali on coming Thursday