Jodhpur: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday launched a stringent attack on Congress and its former President Rahul Gandhi for spreading rumours over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and also challenged him to hold discussion about the amended legislation anywhere, anytime.


Speaking at a mammoth pro-CAA rally in Rajasthan's Jodhpur, Shah said, "Rahul baba kanoon padha hai, toh kahin par bhi charcha karne ke liye aajao. Nahi padha hai toh main Italian mein bhi iska anuvaad karke apko bhej deta hun, usko padh lijiye. [If Rahul Baba has read the new legislation then he must come forward to discuss it with us. And if you have not read it, I am ready to translate it in Italian, read that].

Further in his speech, Shah made it clear that the Central government, under no circumstance, will take back CAA. " Even if all these parties come together, BJP will not move back even an inch on this issue of Citizenship Amendment Act. You can spread as much misinformation as you want," he said.

WATCH | Home Minister Amit Shah Challenges Rahul Gandhi For Debate On CAA



Hitting out at Congress-led Rajasthan government over death of hundreds of infants in Kota, Shah said that CM Ashok Gehlot must focus on children who are dying instead of opposing Citizenship Amendment Act. "Gehlot ji, instead of opposing this (Citizenship Amendment Act) first focus on the children who are dying in Kota everyday, show some concern, mothers are cursing you," he said.

Shah's rally was said to be an attempt of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to corner Gehlot in his home turf as he has openly announced not to implement CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Rajasthan.

The Home Minister, in his first interview of 2020 at ABP News' flagship Shikhar Sammelan summit on Thursday, had appealed to the people of the country no to fall prey of the misinformation being spread by Congress and other Opposition parties over CAA and NRC.

WATCH | Top 6 Highlights Of Amit Shah's Interview In ABP News' Shikhar Sammelan



During an interactive session, Shah also assured people that the new legislation is about giving citizenship to people who are religiously persecuted and it does not take away citizenship of those living in India.

The strategic decision of the BJP to hold the rally in Jodhpur is because it hosts thousands of Pakistani Hindu migrants who are living here in tough conditions for years awaiting their citizenship in India. This is the second rally of Shah being organised to support CAA as the first rally was organised in Kolkata. 30 such rallies are to be addressed by Shah to make people aware of the CAA.

As Gehlot has been openly announcing in his programmes that CAA and NRC shall not be implemented in Rajasthan, he has been on the radar of the top BJP central leadership too.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah both have been attacking Gehlot referring to a letter he sent to the then Home Minister P Chidambaram in which he himself had requested for granting citizenship to Hindu and Sikh migrants from Pakistan.