76 BJP members resign over CAA in Madhya Pradesh

Resignation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR) seem to be continuing, as 76 members of the party have now quit in Madhya Pradesh, it was reported by The Indian Express. Those who quit are booth-level members of the party from Indore, Khargone, Mhow and Dewas.

Earlier, 48 BJP members of the state’s minority cell had quit over the CAA, NRC and NPR last week. This included the minority cell’s vice president Adil Khan and state’s media chief Jadev Baig.

Rajik Qureshi Farshiwala, who quit the BJP was quoted saying, “only we know how difficult it is for us to get our community members to vote for the BJP” and now if the party “keeps talking about contentious issues like these, it’ll be all the more tough for us”. He said that some issues like the Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir issue and triple talaq were not opposed, but now issues such Common Civil Code are to be taken up soon. “How long will we get caught up in Hindu-Muslim issues? Will our children not get a chance to pursue higher studies?” he asked.

BJP general secretary from Madhya Pradesh, Kailash Vijayvargiya was quoted saying he was not aware of the resignations and added that he would discuss the matter with the leaders. He said that some people had been misled.

Protests have been going on across the country by people and political parties who feel the CAA – passed by both houses of the Parliament in December 2019 – goes against the spirit of the Constitution.

The Centre has been saying though that the CAA will help grant citizenship to persecuted minorities from three Muslim majority countries – Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. But according to critics, it discriminates against Muslims. Thousands of students – both women and men – across the country have come out on the streets to protest the contentious CAA, and its implementation along with the NRC and the NPR.

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