'CAA Rollout After Covid Precaution Dose Exercise': Amit Shah Tells BJP's Suvendu Adhikari

The CAA was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019. However, the government is yet to frame rules for the Act.

Union Home minister Amit Shah during a road show with Bengal VJP leader Suvendu Adhikari

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Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday said Union Home Minister Amit Shah had assured him that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act would be implemented after the Covid precaution dose vaccination exercise was over. Adhikari made the remarks after meeting Amit Shah in Parliament House, PTI reported.

"A lot of things were discussed. But I had two main agendas. The Home Minister assured me of taking an action to root out SSC recruitment scam and to release CAA draft after Covid precaution dose exercise," ANI quoted Adhikari as saying. The government launched precautionary dose vaccination in April this year.

Adhikari told reporters that CAA, slammed by critics for its alleged anti-Muslim bias, implementation was very critical for West Bengal as a large number of people would benefit from its provisions.

"It's an honour for me to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah Ji for 45 minutes at his office in Parliament. I briefed him how WB govt is completely mired in corrupt activities such as the reachers recruitment scam. Also requested him to implement CAA at the earliest," Adhikari tweeted.

The CAA seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslims minorities -- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians -- who have migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014. The Act, which saw vociferous protests across the nation, especially Assam, is yet to be rolled out as the government has not framed the rules.

Earlier this year, Amit Shah had announced in West Bengal that the government would implement the CAA as soon as the Covid-19 pandemic ends.

The Bengal BJP leader also said he handed the Home Minister a list of nearly 100 Trinamool Congress leaders allegedly involved in the teacher recruitment scam in which former Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee has been arrested.

Seeking a "wider probe" to expose everyone involved in the scandal, Adhikari gave Amit Shah even letterheads of some TMC leaders, including MLAs, that were purportedly used for recommending certain names for jobs by allegedly taking bribes, PTI reported.

Partha Chatterjee, who was sacked as minister and suspended from TMC last week, and his aide Arpita Mukherjee were arrested by the ED on July 23. The ED also seized around Rs 50 crore in cash, along with jewellery, from two apartments of Arpita Mukherjee.