New Delhi, December 26: Union minister Giriraj Singh on Thursday lashed out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi for supporting the ongoing anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests. The union minister accused Gandhi and Owaisi of dividing the country. He said that both the leaders wanted civil war in India. BJP Working Chief JP Nadda Calls Meeting of 'Jan Jagran Abhiyan', The Committee Formed to Dispel 'Rumours' Over CAA.

Singh said, “What Mughals and Britishers could not do, that Rahul Gandhi, Congress, tukde-tukde gang and Owaisi want to do. They want to divide India. They want a civil war in India. Earlier in the day, Gandhi called Prime Minister Narendra Modi “a liar”. Referring to PM Modi, the Congress leader in a tweet said, “RSS’s PM is speaking lies to mother India.”

Giriraj SIngh's Statement:

Reacting to the Congress leader’s comments, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the Congress of spreading misinformation on the construction of detention centres. Speaking at a press conference here, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said that Gandhi was wrong in calling the Prime Minister a "liar". Seeking to clarify Modi's comments, Patra said: "He said that no detention centre has been made to detain any Indian Muslims under NRC under the BJP government rule. What is the lie in it?"

On Thursday, Owaisi expressed sharp disapproval of Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat's criticism of students leading protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). In response to General Rawat's comments on students' protest, Asaduddin Owaisi said that the Army chief should know the limitation of the institution he heads.

Protests erupted across the country against the CAA which provides Indian citizenship to non-muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists who are victims of religious persecution in neighbouring Islamic countries. The Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed in Parliament on December 11.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 26, 2019 06:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).