CAA, NPR will tax poor, says Rahul as Cong protests

Sharpening its attack on the Modi government over the Citizenship Amendment Act, Congress is all set to take out protest marches across all state capitals on Saturday with the message – 'Save Constitution-Save India'.

Ahead of the nation-wide demonstrations, Rahul Gandhi on Friday lashed out at the Modi government for the controversial exercise to update the National Population Register, likening the move to demonetisation and claiming that it would only “tax the poor people”.

Interacting with the media in Raipur, Rahul said accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “wasting the time of the country” by failing to understand the problems faced people.

“Earlier, the world used to say that India and China are growing at the same pace but now all the world sees is violence in India, women not feeling safe and rising unemployment,” he told reporters referring to the anti-CAA and anti-NRC protests in several parts of the country.

“Whether it is NRC, NPR, it is a tax on poor people. Demonetisation was a tax on poor people – go to the bank, cannot take money from your own account. Here, poor people will have to go to officers and show their documents and give bribe. They will have to give bribe if there is a slight mistake in their names...This is the truth. It is an attack on the people,” the former Congress President said.

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On Saturday, Rahul will lead anti-CAA protests in Guwahati in Assam and also meet the kin of the persons who were killed in police firing during the demonstrations earlier this month. AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will lead the demonstration in Lucknow.

“In addition to the customary flag hoisting in state capitals, presidents of Pradesh Congress Committees will undertake flag marches carrying the message of 'Save Constitution-Save India',” AICC general secretary (Organization) K C Venugopal, said in a statement.

Congress has been opposing the updation of the NPR contending that the Modi government was trying to sneak in additional questions that would eventually lead to the creation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which has sparked off protests across the country.

“Faced by this massive backlash, the PM (Narendra Modi) and Home Minister (Amit Shah) have indulged in characteristic doublespeak, and are now attempting to covertly undertake the exercise through NPR,” Venugopal said.

The Congress will rise to every occasion when there is a challenge to the Constitution and any effort to derail the country from its path of progress amidst historical unemployment and pall of economic gloom, Venugopal said.