BJP winning CAA support, say worried Congress cadres

The BJP is tasting success in its aggressive door-to-door campaign to garner support for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, worried Congress workers revealed on Thursday.

This came minutes after leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, during a state-level workshop organised by the party, suggested that the Congress should take the lead in the anti-CAA campaign.

“The BJP is going door-to-door and they are able to convince people about the CAA. People are asking us questions challenging our narrative. If we don’t act, things will go out of hand,” retired IAS officer Syed Zameer Pasha told the party leadership, after the workshop was inaugurated and the floor was opened for questions.

Jayanagar legislator Sowmya Reddy expressed a similar concern.

“For the past one month, BJP councillors and legislators are going door-to-door. From our party, the least that can be done is provide us with pamphlets or handbooks explaining the CAA and the National Register of Citizens,” Reddy said.

CAA has led to widespread protests in many parts of the country. In response, the BJP has mobilised its stormtroopers on the ground to fan out and tell citizens the party’s perspective on CAA.

The CAA-NRC workshop was organised by the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) to sensitise its cadre on the controversial law.

The outpouring by the party cadre against the leadership came while top leaders Siddaramaiah, KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao and other listened. That the cadre is worried is a setback for the party that is attacking the Modi government on CAA nationally.

“People can’t comprehend if we use jargon involving Constitutional articles,” Mahila Congress leader Kavitha Reddy said. “We need to have a simple list of frequently asked questions that we can take to people.”

Workers also sought clarity from the party on what they should do to counter the attack on Congressmen that they are “anti-Hindus”. Some criticised the leadership for being “too soft” on the issue of CAA and that the party was not able to reach the commoners “in a language they understand”. Some wanted the party to mobilise a protest during Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s pro-CAA rally at Hubballi on January 18.

Siddaramaiah said it was the duty of every Congress worker to oppose the CAA. “What’s the intention in keeping Muslims out? There are refugees who’ve come in from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan as well.”