On New Year’s day, Amit Shah calls crucial BJP meet on CAA

New Delhi: At a time when the nation is celebrating New Year, BJP chief and Union Home Minister Amit Shah got into a huddle with senior party leaders at the BJP headquarters here to evaluate how far the party has been able to counter the popular narrative on the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

The BJP President is reviewing the outreach program launched by the party on Sunday. The BJP has identified six leaders who are entrusted with the job of spearheading its nationwide outreach exercise.

Apart from Shah, those present in Wednesday’s meeting include BJP working President J.P. Nadda, General Secretary (organization) B.L. Santosh and all other General Secretaries of the party. As per sources, BJP Vice President Vinay Sahasrabuddhe is also present in the closed-door meeting.

Holding a review meeting just three days after the plan was kicked off is also a way to signal how serious the top BJP leadership is about the outreach program. This also coincides with Prime Minister Narendra Modi launching the “India supports CAA” campaign on Twitter and NaMo app.

Anil Jain is leading the party’s charge in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar — two states which have witnessed major minority resentment towards the CAA.

Avinash Rai has been entrusted with leading and coordinating the outreach program in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Delhi.

Saroj Pandey will coordinate in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Goa and Daman and Diu, while Suresh Bhatt will lead the program in Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, and Jammu & Kashmir.

For the southern zone, the party has selected Ravindra Raju who will coordinate with the media to organize press conferences, meetings and outreach programs in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, the Andamans, Puducherry, and Lakshadweep.

For the eastern belt, former Bengal BJP chief Rahul Sinha has been made in-charge of West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, and the northeast. He will be working in coordination with Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam Minister of Health & Family Welfare, in the northeast.

Delhi, which will go to polls this year, has witnessed large-scale violent protests against CAA, particularly near Jamia Millia Islamia. Since then, the national capital has been witnessing protests — virtually every day — either by student organizations or civil society groups. The protests have spread to other parts of India, creating a narrative that CAA will hurt the interests of Indian Muslims. BJP’s outreach program aims is to counter this narrative. (IANS)

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