New Delhi, December 20: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday joined the anti-CAA protests at India Gate, where scores of Delhi residents had assembled to mark their dissent against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Voicing their concern, the Gandhi scion said their prime objection is the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC), which will target the section of society left out from the purview of CAA.

The NRC drive, which Union Home Minister Amit Shah has promised to implement across the nation by 2024, would affect the poor the most, claimed Priyanka. The citizenship exercise would bring back the horrors of demonetisation, as 130 crore Indians would be forced to stand in queue to prove their citizenship, she said. Anti-CAA Protests: 'Outsiders' Responsible For Violence Near Delhi Gate, Say Police Officials.

"Citizenship Act and NRC are against the poor. The poor they will be most affected by it. What will the daily wage labourers do," Priyanka asked.

The Gandhi scion also accused the Centre of reacting to the students' agitation in a stubborn manner. The government, she claimed, has closed its ears towards all voices of dissident. "This government does not want to listen to the voices of the youth. They are busy beating up the students. Why can’t the government talk to these students," she questioned.

Update by ANI

In the anti-CAA stir, eight deaths have been reported in the span of last 48 hours. While six people have been succumbed to injuries sustained during clashes in Uttar Pradesh, two protesters were killed in "police firing" in Karnataka.

CAA, passed by both Houses of the Parliament and approved by President Ram Nath Kovind, mandates the naturalisation of non-Muslim refugees who entered India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan on or before December 31, 2014. Critics of the law see it as a ploy, combined with the nationwide NRC, to target the Muslim community.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 20, 2019 09:17 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).