Kolkata, Jan 29: On Monday, Union Minister Shantanu Thakur declared that the nation would be using the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in less than a week.In a TV channel interview, Thakur, a BJP MP from Bongaon, where the bulk of people live in the Matua group in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, stated that the controversial legislation would be swiftly implemented in a week. The goal of the 2019 BJP-led government’s CAA is to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who were persecuted and came to India before December 31, 2014. These migrants include Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians.“The CAA will be put into effect shortly. It is going to be put into effect in seven days. “I promise you this,” stated Thakur, who is a prominent figure in the Matua community. Similar remarks were made on Sunday by Thakur, the union minister of state for ports, shipping, and waterways. He has been asserting that the country would implement the CAA prior to this year’s Lok Sabha elections. During the 1950s, a significant number of Matuas, who make up the Scheduled Caste population in the state, have been moving to West Bengal. Their migration was mostly prompted by religious persecution in the former East Pakistan, which eventually transformed into Bangladesh.Since the 1990s, political parties in West Bengal have made a concerted effort to win over the Matuas, who are viewed as a useful voting bloc similar to minorities because of their large population and inclination to vote in unison. It is thought that the Matua community will gain the most from the CAA’s adoption. In light of rumours this month indicating that the rules governing the legislation would be announced “much before” the Lok Sabha elections, Thakur’s statement regarding the implementation of the CAA is noteworthy. The state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), which fiercely opposes the CAA and calls it “divisive,” reacted sharply to his comments.Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, and our party supremo have stated unequivocally that CAA will not be implemented there. Before the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP leaders are trying to use political gimmicks by making such untrue promises, according to TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh. Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, reaffirmed last month that the CAA will undoubtedly be implemented because it is the national legislation. He had accused Banerjee of misleading people over the CAA issue during a BJP gathering in Kolkata. The TMC has continuously opposed the CAA, claiming that the BJP is “exploiting” the citizenship debate for political advantage, according to Banerjee.In West Bengal’s past assembly races and Lok Sabha elections, the BJP used the contentious CAA as a significant campaign platform. Leaders of the party think it was crucial to the BJP’s ascent in the state. The manual of parliamentary processes states that any legislation’s rules must be drafted within six months following the president’s assent, or else the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha’s committees on subordinate legislation must request an extension. The Home Ministry has been requesting regular extensions from the legislative committees for the purpose of drafting regulations since 2020.
