Notifying CAA rules a ‘gimmick’, says Siddu

UDUPI: The Centre notifying the rules for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act is a “gimmick” keeping Lok Sabha polls in mind, and the state government will take a decision regarding its implementation in Karnataka after going through it, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Wednesday.

The Centre on Monday announced the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, a move that comes four years after the contentious law was passed and paves the way for citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

“CAA is being brought in now keeping the election in mind. Why were they (Centre) keeping quiet all these years? Now they have brought it all of a sudden ahead of elections, because they fear losing (in the polls). That’s the reason they are doing all these gimmicks,” Siddaramaiah told reporters here.

“We are yet to look into it. After looking into it, we will take a decision. We will discuss it at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow,” the Chief Minister said.

The rules were notified days ahead of the expected announcement of the Lok Sabha elections. With this, the Modi government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants — Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians — from the three countries.

Earlier in the day, Home Minister G Parameshwara told reporters in Bengaluru the government has not yet discussed the issue of implementation of the CAA in the State, and the Cabinet will take a call on it.