The Modi government, in March, had notified the rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and said they will allow minorities persecuted on religious grounds in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to acquire Indian citizenship.

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the first citizenship will be issued under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act before the last phase of the election. In an interview to News18, the home minister informed that the applications have started to come in and the scrutiny is happening according to the rules.

“I think before the elections, before the last phase, the process of giving citizenship will start,” Amit Shah told News18.

The Modi government, in March, had notified the rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and said they will allow minorities persecuted on religious grounds in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to acquire Indian citizenship.

Home Minister Amit Shah said that with the rules being notified, the Narendra Modi-led government has “realised the promise of the makers of our constitution to the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians living in those countries”.

The CAA was passed in December 2019 and subsequently got the president’s assent but there were protests in several parts of the country against it.

NDA Will Cross 400 Seats in Lok Sabha Elections

During the interview Shah also expressed confidence in achieving NDA’s goal of crossing 400 seats in
the Lok Sabha elections.

“You will see on counting day (June 4, 2024), before 12.30 pm, NDA will cross 400, Modi ji will again become Prime Minister…My party’s team and I have done a detailed analysis. We are moving towards the third phase with well over 100 seats from the first two. I don’t see any problem in crossing the target of 400,” the home minister told News 18.