CAA completely insignificant in Assam: Himanta
Guwahati (PTI): Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday claimed that the CAA is completely insignificant in Assam, from where there will be the "least number of applications" for Indian citizenship.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had on Tuesday launched a portal for people eligible to apply for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019.
"CAA is completely insignificant in Assam; the state will have the least number of applications on the portal," Sarma told a press conference here.
The Union government had on Monday implemented the CAA, notifying the rules to fast-track citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.
Sarma said the act is very clear that the cut-off date for application of citizenship is December 31, 2014, and in Assam, with the updation of the National Register of Citizens, people who applied for it and did not find their names in that list, will only apply for CAA.
The CM also asserted that the BJP will win 13 out of the 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will return for a third term after the Lok Sabha polls, Sarma added.
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Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak booked in Punjab
Chandigarh (PTI): Punjab Police is learnt to have booked Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak, who recently defected to the BJP, sources said on Saturday.
Two FIRs have been lodged against Pathak under non-bailable sections, they said.
No further details about the FIRs have been disclosed yet.
Pathak was among the seven Rajya Sabha MPs who had quit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and joined the BJP.
On April 24, the AAP suffered a jolt when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs -- Pathak, Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal -- quit, alleging that Arvind Kejriwal's party had strayed from its principles, values and core morals.
Six of the seven MPs were from Punjab.
Later, Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan officially accepted their merger with the BJP, reducing AAP's strength in the Upper House to three.
