Just a day after Union Home minister Amit Shah challenged opposition parties for a debate on CAA, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said he has accepted the challenge and will ready for a debate whenever asked for.
Where as, BSP president Mayawati let her intentions clear through a tweet in which she said that her party was ready to accept the challenge “on any stage and at any place.” She said the BJP government was “troubled” by the “struggle” and protests organised by the youth and women across the country against the CAA, the proposed nationwide NRC and the NPR.
Mr. Yadav criticized the BJP governmrnt for the CAA and added that the government did not want to debate on the economy, jobs or demonetisation. “As for the question of debate, I say to the BJP people, pick a place and stage, and the BJP can also call its favourite channels [TV news channels]…we are ready to debate on development,” he told the media.
The former Chief Minister of UP slammed BJP for tampering with the constitution just because it has majority but he used some bold words and said “But you can’t suppress people’s voice with majority.”
At his rally in Lucknow on Tuesday, Mr. Shah accused opposition parties of spreading misconceptions about the new law, and instigating riots and violence. He challanged Mr. Yadav to come on stage and speak on the CAA “for five minutes.” He asked other Opposition leaders like Mayawati, Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee to come up on any platform for an open debate on the CAA.
