'Modi's address on NRC, CAA filled with hate and lies'

The Opposition on Sunday dismissed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claims that they were inciting people against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) with senior leaders saying that he was contradicting the remarks of Home Minister Amit Shah, who has actually created the uncertainty.

Immediately after Modi's speech at a rally here, Congress tweeted that it was "sad" that in the first address by the prime minister following the growing protests, he did so with "hate and lies"

"But alas, what more can we expect from the Divider in Chief... Your party and your leaders have openly stated several times what your intentions with CAA and NRC are, there's no point backtracking now," it said.

As Modi took on Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on her opposition to the CAA, she said whatever she said was in public domain and whatever he has said is there for people to judge.

"With the prime minister contradicting the home minister publicly on nationwide NRC, who is dividing fundamental idea of India? People will definitely decide who is right and who is wrong," she said.

Senior CPM leader and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the prime minister has remarked in his speech that caste and religion are not criteria for schemes.

"It is now up to the PM to prove his words with deeds. Emotional outbursts are never enough. The fundamental issue of CAA is that it discriminates on the basis of religion," he said.

Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said that the home minister's statement on nationwide NRC is made in Parliament and it is in public domain.

"That has to be then duly clarified. That has created an environment of fear, insecurity and uncertainty in the country. It's primarily the government which is responsible for that," Sharma said.