Final Draft Of Citizenship Amendment Act Likely To Be Ready By March Next Year: MoS Home Ajay Mishra

On Sunday (27 November), Ajay Mishra, the Union Minister of State for Home, announced that the final draft of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, also known as CAA, is expected to be ready by 30 March next year.

While speaking to the Matua community at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas district, the BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh asserted that no one has the power to take away the citizenship rights of the Matuas, who had escaped religious persecution in Bangladesh.

"The process to roll out CAA has gained momentum in the last couple of years... some issues are being sorted out. Nobody can snatch citizenship rights from the Matuas. By March next year, the final draft of the CAA is expected to be ready for coming into force," Mishra said, NDTV reported.

The CAA seeks to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan entering India before 31 December 2014.

In response to the Mishra's claim, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen said, "The BJP remembers Matuas and the CAA only during elections. The saffron party will never be able to roll out CAA in West Bengal".