Centre likely to notify Citizenship Amendment Act rules by today: Sources

The Union Home Ministry is likely to notify Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules today, sources told India Today. The CAA Act was passed by both Houses of Parliament in 2019. Home Minister Amit Shah has, on multiple occasions, said that CAA rules would be notified ahead of the Lok Sabha elections to be held in April-May. 

Earlier, Union Minister Shantanu Thakur said the CAA would be implemented in the country within a week. Thakur, a BJP MP from Bongaon, said that swift implementation of the legislation would be made within seven days.

The CAA aims to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted migrants belonging to six communities - Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians - from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

The opposition parties including Congress and TMC have been opposing the law, with Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying that she won't allow the implementation of the act in the state.

In January this year, Mamata Banerjee said she would never allow the implementation of CAA in the state during her lifetime. She said the BJP "opportunistically raised" the issue of the CAA ahead of elections.

"With elections approaching, the BJP has again raked up the CAA issue to reap political benefits. But let me make it very clear that as long as I am alive, I will not allow its implementation in West Bengal," Banerjee said.