Kejriwal says CAA will eat into jobs for citizens; it will only shelter persecuted: BJP

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal criticizes BJP's CAA rules, accusing them of creating a vote bank at the expense of job opportunities.

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday alleged that the BJP-led Centre’s move allowing poor minorities from neighbouring nations to settle in India will snatch away job opportunities from the countrymen, who are already reeling under the impact of rising inflation and unemployment.

The Chief Minister said this in a video message while reacting to the notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) rules by the Centre, a move which he termed “extremely dangerous” and aimed at “only creating a vote bank” for the BJP in the areas where it is weak.

The BJP condemned Mr. Kejriwal’s remarks, with its Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva describing the CM’s statement as “anti-Hindu and anti-Sikh”.

The Union Home Ministry on Monday notified the rules for the implementation of the CAA that was passed by Parliament in December 2019.

The law facilitates citizenship to ‘persecuted’ people belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi, Christian, and Jain communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.

“With this law, the BJP government has opened the floodgates for the arrival of a large number of poor minorities from Pakistan and Bangladesh into India,” said the AAP chief.

He added that the three countries put together are home to around three crore people belonging to the six communities. “Even if 1.5 crore people come to India, how will the BJP settle them?” he said, alleging that the party will “selectively settle them in the areas where it is weak”, creating a “permanent vote bank” for itself.