Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Amjad Pasha said on Saturday that he is even ready to resign to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Addressing protesters at Kadapa, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader made it clear that people are more important for him than the party and posts.
“I am ready to take the protest against this black law to any extent,” he said while responding to strong demands from the protesters.
The Deputy CM admitted that YSRCP committed a mistake by backing the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in the Parliament. “This happened due to lack of awareness about the bill at the time. There was information gap. But now that all sections of people are protesting against CAA across the country, we can’t support it,” he said.
The YSRCP leader assured the protesters that he will persuade Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to pass a resolution in the Assembly opposing the CAA.
Stating that YSRCP is a secular party, Pasha said the Chief Minister has already ruled out implementing the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state.
He also made it clear that the National Population Register (NPR) in the new format is not acceptable to the party. “There are new columns in NPR 2020. We can’t provide date of birth, place of birth of our parents and grandparents,” he said.
The Deputy CM denied reports in a section of media that YSRCP is planning to have an alliance with the BJP. He said the YSRCP came to power with a huge mandate and there is no question of joining hands with the saffron party.
Earlier, Pasha called on the people who have been protesting for the last 10 days at the Shaheen Bagh-style protest venue. Wearing a black badge, he also walked with the protesters, who demanded that he took a clear stand against CAA, NRC and NPR.
