Union minister says CAA implementation in a week

In a bold assertion, Union Minister Shantanu Thakur, in West Bengal claimed that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) would be implemented across India by next week.

Addressing a meeting of booth workers in South 24 Parganas district’s Kakdwip on Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said in Bengali, “I can guarantee that in the next seven days, not just in West Bengal, but the CAA will be implemented across India.”

He backed his claim with Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s earlier statement where the latter asserted that the CAA is the law of the land and no force could prevent its implementation.

Thakur, a prominent BJP leader in West Bengal, is a member of Parliament from Bangaon Lok Sabha constituency and Minister of State for Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways of India in PM Narendra Modi’s government.

In December last year, Amit Shah, while addressing a gathering in Kolkata’s iconic Esplanade, reiterated the BJP-headed central government’s commitment towards implementing the CAA.

Attacking Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over issues like infiltration, corruption, political violence, and appeasement in the easter state, Shah said “No one can stop” the implementation of CAA in the country.

He also urged people to dethrone the TMC government from Bengal and elect the BJP in the 2026 Assembly elections.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019, and got the President’s assent the very next day, following which it was notified by the MHA. About 83 persons died and several were injured in the protests that followed its passing.

The law has been in a state of limbo as the Centre has yet to frame rules for the CAA and implement it.