Amit Shah claimed that India has freed itself from the clutches of the Congress (File)
Home Minister Amit Shah alleged that the Congress is "hell-bent on harming" Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Christian, Sikh, and Parsi communities to appease its vote bank, a day after its leader P Chidambaram said his party would repeal the Citizenship (Amendment) Act if voted to power.
To change laws, one needs to be in government and it's impossible for the Congress to even be the main Opposition party, Amit Shah said. A party must win at least 10% of the total Lok Sabha seats - 543 - to become eligible to be recognised as the main Opposition party - a threshold the Congress could not cross in the last two elections.
In a statement, the Union Home Minister said, "Blinded by the politics of appeasement, Congress has lost its nerve upon seeing its crushing defeat in the first phase. It is hell-bent on harming Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Christian, Sikh, and Parsi communities to appease its vote bank."
He asserted that it is because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guarantees that everyone from the persecuted minority communities, who have come to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, will get citizenship through the CAA, and no one can stop it.
The Congress has a problem with Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, and Parsis getting citizenship, he alleged, adding that the Opposition party is troubled by justice being served within three years through the law.
Voters will teach the Congress a bigger lesson this Lok Sabha election than the 2019 and 2014 polls, the BJP leader said.
Amit Shah claimed that India has freed itself from the clutches of the Congress, which suppressed its fundamental culture and thoughts.
"Modi ji has changed the criminal laws of the British era, providing India with the world's most modern justice system, while the Congress talks about changing it," he said in an apparent reference to the new criminal laws that will replace the colonial era statutes.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday said the CAA will be repealed in the first session of Parliament if the INDIA bloc forms the government at the Centre.
Mr Chidambaram said Congress intends to repeal the CAA even though it is not mentioned in its manifesto.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)