Quit as CM before anti-CAA march: Chouhan to Nath

BJP vice-president Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday told Kamal Nath to resign as Madhya Pradesh chief minister before leading a Citizenship Amendment Act protest march scheduled in Bhopal on December 25.

Speaking at the BJP's "CAA thanksgiving" programme, Singh said Nath, as CM, was holding a Constitutional post and the Act had been duly passed by Parliament and signed into law by the president.

"Kamal Nath is saying he himself will take out a march against the CAA. He should not forget he is holding the Constitutional post of chief minister. He is talking of opposing CAA, which has become law through a Constitutional process after approval of Parliament," Chouhan, former CM of the state, said.

"If Kamal Nath wants to oppose CAA, he should first leave the CM's post," he said, going on to question whether the chief minister wanted to vitiate the state's atmosphere by leading a protest march against CAA.

Madhya Pradesh witnessed violence during protests against CAA and National Register of Citizens on Friday, with curfew being clamped in police station areas in Jabalpur.

"Opposition to CAA is beyond my comprehension. The Congress should quit votebank politics and think of humanity," Chouhan added.

Leader of Opposition in MP Assembly, Gopal Bhargava, meanwhile said India was not a "dharamshala" (charitable rest house) where anyone can come and start living in a mosque or shelter.

"Through the CAA, the Narendra Modi government has put a check on those who come here from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan with an intention to engage in terrorism and espionage," Bhargava said.

Hitting back, MP Public Works Department Minister Sajjan Singh Verma told reporters here that the BJP was conspiring to divide the country on religious grounds with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and CAA.

He challenged the BJP to hold public programmes in Assam and northeast states against the backdrop of CAA-NRC protests there.