Lucknow, January 21: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, speaking at the rally organised by BJP at Lucknow's Ramkatha Park on Tuesday, compared the protests and "propaganda" against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to Draupadi's cheerharan. Yogi Adityanath said that the Congress, Samajwadi Party, SP and other opposition parties were spreading rumours about the act. The UP CM, speaking before Home Minister Amit Shah at the Lucknow rally held to spread awareness on CAA, said that the BJP would go from door to door to spread information about the Citizenship Amendment Act. Citizenship Amendment Act Won't Be Withdrawn, No Matter Who Protests, Says Amit Shah in Lucknow.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also praised the Narendra Modi government for taking " tough decisions". Adityanath said that the BJP had taken decisions in past six months which should have been taken after independence itself. He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP for abrogation of Article 370, finding solution to Ram Janmabhoomi case and temple construction in Ayodhya and for getting CAA passed.

The chief minister's comments came even as protests are underway in Lucknow against the contentious CAA. The UP Police on Tuesday charged the women protesting in UP's capital at Lucknow's iconic Clock Tower. Several Parts of Uttar Pradesh saw the worst clashes between police and CAA protesters last year with over 20 people killed in the state.

Recently, UP became the first state in India to started recognising refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh for citizenship under the new Citizenship Act. The Uttar Pradesh government began the process for implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The government sent a list of refugees who migrated from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, and are living across 19 districts in the state to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), making it the first state to initiate the process to implement the CAA.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 21, 2020 04:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).