Firm on CAA, NPR: Modi says opposition creating roadblocks

New Delhi, Feb 6 (IANS): Remaining firm on the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the National Population Register (NPR) was a general administrative exercise and will help in effective delivery of government services, hinting his resolve to carry out the Census.

Replying to the debate on Motion of Thanks to the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha, Modi said the opposition was protesting against NPR for their narrow political gains, noting that all state governments had earlier given their approval through a gazetted notification, but some of them were now making U-turns.

After the Prime Minsiter’s speech and before the House adopted the Motion of Thanks, the opposition parties staged a walkout.

Quoting the statements of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Samajwadi Party leader Ram Manohar Lohia, Modi attacked the opposition parties, especially the Congress. He also read out a 1947 resolution of the Congress to remind the main opposition party that it was protesting against something it had supported then.

Modi said the Congress had earlier favoured citizenship to minorities from Pakistan.

The Prime Minister also listed the achievements of the government and said that India’s economic fundamentals remained strong.

He said his government had cleared the roadblocks in the way of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and implemented it. He said as Chief Minister of Gujarat, he had flagged several issues related to implementation of GST and finally resolved them after becoming the Prime Minister.

He targeted Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, and said that in the last 18 months, several schemes have been effectively implement in Jammu and Kashmir.

Modi noted that under the PM Awas yojana, only 3,500 houses were built earlier, but in less than two years, more than 24,000 houses have been built in J&K.