In an attack at the BJP-led central government over the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday alleged lack of clarity on the notified rules and expressed doubts about its legal validity.

Addressing a gathering in Habra, North 24 Parganas district, Banerjee urged the public to carefully consider before applying for citizenship under the law. Banerjee also declared CAA unconstitutional and discriminatory.

Also Read:Muslim League moves Supreme Court seeking stay on implementation of CAA rules

“The CAA and the rules framed are unconstitutional, and discriminatory under Article 14 of Constitution, which is the fundamental right to equality,” she said, accusing the Centre of misleading the public regarding citizenship provisions.

TMC supremo further claimed that anyone who applies for citizenship will automatically become an illegal immigrant.

Also Read:CAA Rules: How to apply for citizenship in India? Check full list of documents

Describing it as a ‘game of taking away the rights’, Mamata expressed concern that individuals seeking citizenship could face detention camp scenarios once their applications are submitted. “I will be happy if one person gets the (citizenship) rights, but if anyone is deprived I will give him shelter,” she said, asserting that she will not allow anyone to be “thrown out”, as PTI reported.

Banerjee also linked the implementation of CAA with the National Register of Citizens (NRC), contending that Muslim citizens could be unjustly deemed illegal and subjected to hardships under the NRC process.

Also Read:‘Every Indian Muslim should welcome CAA’: All India Muslim Jamaat president welcomes Centre’s move, AIMIM opposes

Tamil Nadu, Kerala refuse CAA Implementation

Besides Bengal, Opposition-ruled states including Kerala and Tamil Nadu have said they will not implement the law in their state. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin dismissed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act as ‘divisive and bereft of any use’ and asserted that it will not be implemented in the state.

Stalin accused the BJP-led Central government of hastily notifying the rules for implementing the CAA, especially with the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. He stated that the CAA only serves to create divisions among the Indian people and lacks any meaningful benefits.

“There is not going to be any use or benefits due to the CAA, which only paves the way for creating divisions among the Indian people. The stand of the government is that this law is completely unwarranted; it is one that must be repealed.” Hence, “the Tamil Nadu government will not give any opportunity in any manner to implement the CAA in Tamil Nadu,” he said.

Also Read:CAA rules notification: What changes as Citizenship Amendment Act comes into force?

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also described CAA as a law that creates division along communal lines and said it will not be put into effect in the southern state.

“The government has repeatedly stated that the Citizenship Amendment Act, which treats Muslim minorities as second-class citizens, will not be implemented in Kerala. That remains the position. All of Kerala will stand united in opposing this communally divisive law,” Vijayan said in a statement here.

Enacted by Parliament in 2019, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) is introduced to fast-track citizenship for undocumented migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who entered India prior to December 31, 2014.

Following the recent notification of rules, individuals belonging to persecuted non-Muslim communities, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians from these nations, are now eligible to attain Indian nationality.