Attempts being made to 'blackmail' Centre on CAA: BJP

The BJP on Wednesday alleged that the nationwide protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) were orchestrated by the opposition to "destabilise" the party-led NDA government and also the country.

BJP national spokesman Sambit Patra said the Modi-led government has solved some of the controversial issues like Article 370, triple talaq, Ram Mandir and CAA within one year of its second term, which has not gone down well with the opposition.

Do you think that parties in opposition will keep quiet when we solve such controversial issues within one year of coming to power for a second consecutive term?, he questioned.

They wont. They will use all their might to destabilise the government and also destabilise the country. I appeal you all, we should not allow the government to be destabilised, said Patra, referring to anti-CAA protests.

The BJP spokesman was here to take part in an interactive session on Building Foundations of a New India.

Pointing out that the Modi government came back to power in 2019 with a bigger majority than in 2014, Patra said It would have beena great disservice to the mandate if issues hanging fire for long were not solved.

Those were the issues which were pending for the last 70 years as political parties were indecisive on them, he said.

If, despite such a mandate, if we dont solve those issues, then it would have been like stabbing the mandate given by the people, Patra commented.

Today, I can say with pride that the country has found strong leadership under Narendra Modi and his team has given a sense of closure for those issues which were considered as controversial, he said.

The BJP spokesman said he had never in his wildest dream imagined that in his lifetime, he will see a day when Article 370, which provided special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, would be scrapped.

It (Article 370) was projected as a monster which was never touched, he said.

The BJP leader said the situation in Kashmir is "normal" and when someone raises the slogan of Free Kashmir, he concedes that he is asking for (restoration of) Internet connectivity in the Union Territory.

Patra pointed out that this is the ninth time that the Citizenship Act of 1955 has been amended.

The protests against the CAA are condemnable and they have an agenda, he said.

Patra said the way the Rajiv Gandhi government was blackmailed into overturning the Supreme Court verdict in the Shah Bano case, similar attempts are now being made in the case of CAA.

They want to blackmail the government. They want that the government should bend down. They want that government should backtrack (on the new citizenship law), he said.

Time and again Prime Minister and Home Minister have said that the CAA is not about snatching anyones right but it is about giving (citizenship) rights, he added.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and state BJP president Sadanand Tanavade were also present for the interactive session.