CAA implementation within a week: Union minister Shantanu Thakur
Kolkata, Jan 29: Union Minister Shantanu Thakur on Monday said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) would be implemented in the country within a week.
During an interview with a news channel, Thakur, a BJP MP from Bongaon, an area with the majority of people belonging to the Matua community in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district, said that swift implementation of the contentious legislation would be made within seven days.
The CAA, enacted by the BJP-led government at the Centre in 2019, aims at granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.
"The CAA will be implemented very soon. It will be implemented within seven days. This is my guarantee," said Thakur, also a leader of the Matua community.
Thakur, the union minister of state for ports, shipping and waterways, has made a similar comment on Sunday.
He has been claiming that the CAA would be implemented in the country ahead of the Lok Sabha polls this year.
Matuas, who constitute a large chunk of the state's Scheduled Caste population, had been migrating to West Bengal since the 1950s, primarily due to religious persecution in erstwhile East Pakistan which later became Bangladesh.
Since the nineties, political parties in West Bengal have actively sought to secure the support of the Matuas, who, due to their significant population and tendency to vote together, are considered a valuable voting bloc akin to the minorities.
The Matua community is believed to benefit the most from the implementation of the CAA.
Thakur's assertion on the CAA's implementation comes amidst reports this month, suggesting that the rules for the legislation would be notified "much before" the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections.
His remarks elicited strong reactions from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the state, which has vehemently opposed the CAA, labelling it "divisive".
"Our party supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have clearly said that CAA won't be implemented in West Bengal. The BJP leaders are attempting political gimmickry by making such false promises before the Lok Sabha elections," TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.
Last month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah reiterated that the implementation of CAA is inevitable as it is the law of the land.
During a BJP meeting in Kolkata, he had accused Banerjee of misleading people on the CAA issue.
The TMC has consistently opposed the CAA, with Banerjee alleging that the BJP is "exploiting" the citizenship issue for political gain.
The promise of implementing the controversial CAA served as a major electoral platform for the BJP in the previous Lok Sabha and assembly polls in West Bengal.
Party leaders believe that it played a pivotal role in the BJP's rise in the state.
According to the manual of parliamentary procedures, the rules for any legislation should have been framed within six months of presidential assent or seek an extension from the committees on subordinate legislation in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
Since 2020, the Home Ministry has been taking extensions at regular intervals from the parliamentary committees for framing the rules.
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K''taka Legislative Council chairperson Horatti takes exception to CID probing C T Ravi episode
Bengaluru (PTI): The Chairperson of the Karnataka Legislative Council, Basavaraja S Horatti, has taken exception to the CID probing the episode involving BJP MLC C T Ravi allegedly using foul words against Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar inside the council in Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi on December 19 last year.
In a letter to state Home Minister G Parameshwara on January 10, Horatti underlined that he has already given his verdict on the episode, which is final.
The letter was shared with the media on Sunday.
"The chair has already given its verdict after reviewing the Constitution of India, the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of the Karnataka Legislative Council, the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, Kaul and Shakter's Practice and Procedure of Parliament and Subhash Kashyap's Balimantori Procedures regarding the incident that took place in the Legislative Council of the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, Belgaum on 19.12.2024," the council Chairperson said.
He further said, "The chairperson, being a constitutional post, has the sovereign power over the parliamentary system and process, and the House has the power to punish its members for disorderly conduct or other abuses in the House while it is in session."
Accordingly, the chairperson has the power to maintain the traditions that have been followed so far and to control the proceedings within the premises of the House, and his decision is final, Horatti added.
He said it seems that the executive is allowing a constitutional conflict by entrusting the case to the CID, in violation of parliamentary procedure and process and the special powers granted to the legislature and the Speaker in the Constitution of India.
The Chairperson said that there should be no premise of unnecessary conflict between the legislature and the executive.
"It is a matter of course for you to know that the incident that took place in the Legislative Council falls within the purview of the Chairperson, and we, the Executive and the Legislative, must perform our respective duties with mutual respect within the framework of the Constitution," he said.
Noting that Parameshwara has vast experience of working in various institutions of the Constitution, he exuded confidence in him that he will perform his duties under the Constitution.
"Accordingly, I trust that you will handle this case keeping in mind the special rights provided to the Legislature/MLAs in the framework of the Constitution and the rights vested in the Speaker in parliamentary procedures and processes, and the sovereignty of the House," Horatti said.
Reacting to it, Parameshwara told reporters here on Sunday that he has not received the letter though he came to know about Horatti’s letter in the media.
"I will first see what is there in the letter, after which I will get the advice of legal experts and law department. We will do whatever is within the framework of law," the Home Minister said.
He said the matter has been handed over to the CID to find out the truth behind the incident to put an end to the confusions.
The police registered an FIR against Ravi on December 19, 2024 for allegedly using derogatory words against Hebbalkar and arrested him the same evening.
He was finally released on the High Court order which maintained that his arrest was prima facie illegal for not following the due process of law.
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