Opposition parties spreading falsehood on Citizenship Act: UP minister Sidharth Nath Singh

Uttar Pradesh minister Sidharth Nath Singh on Friday alleged that the opposition parties were spreading falsehood on the Citizenship Amendment Act and trying to create fear among minorities.

Hitting out at the opposition, he said the BJP has been organising pro-CAA rallies and spreading awareness about the new Act. "In the name of protests, the opposition parties are spreading falsehood on the CAA and trying to create a fear among the minorities...there was violence and it was planned violence. We saw it in New Delhi, in Karnataka and in Uttar Pradesh," the senior BJP leader told reporters here.

To counter these protests, he said the BJP has been organising awareness campaigns about the new Act. The party would reach out to three crore houses and for this 10 lakh workers would be mobilised, Singh said.

On political parties in Tamil Nadu opposing the CAA, he said leaders like DMK chief M K Stalin and others should refrain from spreading "falsehood" on CAA. These parties should accept that the CAA has got nothing to do with Indian citizens, he said.

On senior Congress leader P Chidambaram's strident criticism of the CAA, he claimed "a lot of videos were in circulation on Chidambaram advocating citizenship amendment, National Register of Citizens and National Population Register when he was Home Minister. He has absolutely made a U-turn now. It is very unfortunate...," he said.

Referring to the violence in JNU, Singh said the Centre considers the Jawaharlal Nehru University as a premier institution and its ethos needs to be maintained. "Any premier institution's ethos needs to be maintained and I am sure the government is committed to maintaining that," Singh said.

Asked about some BJP leaders reportedly echoing the need to close the university following the violence that rocked it, he said "Many can have their own individual views. I do not think .. very senior people in the BJP, again I am clarifying, had spoken like this," he said. "The government considers and is of the opinion that JNU is a premium organisation and an institution which has given stalwarts to this country," he added.

BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy recently said the JNU should be shut for two years and reopened with a new name. Violence broke out at the JNU on January 5 night as a group of masked people armed with sticks attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus, prompting the administration to call in the police.

Referring to the appointment of Tamil Nadu unit BJP chief, Singh said the selection process has been going on and the party would make a formal announcement "very soon."