Railway minister sees Owaisi's influence on KCR's stance on CAA

Hyderabad: Union Railway minister Piyush Goyal, on 18 February, strongly criticized the Telangana government for its stand on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). During a Press meet in the city on Tuesday, he ruled out the legal possibility of the state's choice to take its own decision on the implementation of the controversial Act.

"No state can oppose the laws that are passed by the Parliament. It is unfortunate that Chief Minister KCR, under the influence of one MP, Mr Asaduddin Owaisi, is insulting the Constitution by not abiding by the laws. We request KCR not to indulge in petty politics to appease minorities," Mr Goyal said.

He urged the Telangana government to not politicise the CAA and hoped wiser counsel would prevail. “The CAA has nothing to do with the citizenship of the rest of the Indians. It is just a process to include persecuted minorities in the neighbouring Islamic countries who are staying in India as refugees,” said the minister.

He further claimed the Central government has never differentiated people based on religion and said their main agenda is "Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas". “When giving cooking gas and electricity to everyone, have we ever asked the religion of the people and differentiated based on the same. No. We are not against any religion.”

Though KCR's son, KTR, had said in a recent meeting in New Delhi that the state and Center should work together, it's the state that is not cooperating with the Center, Mr Goyal said. He further questioned why the state was reluctant to implement the Central government schemes like Ayushaman Bharat and Pradhan Mantri Avaas Yojana. He also questioned the purpose of the 10 per cent reservation for economically backward classes and asked whether the state doesn't want poor people to get opportunities with the reservation.