What happened on Tuesday: Opposition hits out at Centre, says CAA used to divert attention from economic issues

The Opposition in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday tore into the government, accusing it of hiding the real picture of economy and creating "destructive" issues like the CAA and the NRC to polarise the society and divert attention from key challenges like economic slowdown, farm distress and unemployment.

As the House took up the debate on Motion of Thanks on the President's Address, the BJP launched a frontal attack on opposition parties specially the Congress for their stance against the Citizenship Amendment Act, saying they were trying to divide the nation.

Initiating the debate, senior BJP leader Bhupender Yadav accused the Congress and the Aam Adami Party of giving "moral support" to Shaheen Bagh stir and said young minds were "poisoned through hate-filled speeches" in the name of freedom of expression during the anti-CAA protests. He said none of these leaders or parties supporting the protests have raised issues of atrocities against minorities in Islamic nations and were busy politicising the issue for petty self interest.

Hitting back, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "Triple Talaq, CAA, NPR issues are being talked about by you to divert attention on key issues of unemployment, black money, slow GDP growth. "Your ideas or proposals are not constructive but destructive."

Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray alleged that the government is using the name of Mahatma Gandhi to hide its "camouflaged agenda of religious persecution and division" through CAA and NRC.

Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena, a former ally of the BJP, alleged that an atmosphere of hate is being created to break the country and there is a "civil-war like situation". On the agitation against the CAA, Raut said the protesters are citizens of this country and the government should sit with them and allay their fears.

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