Amit Shah's 'challenge' to Rahul Gandhi on CAA: 'Congress hoodwinked the country'

Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the Rising Bharat Summit in New Delhi.

Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday challenged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to prove if a single Muslim individual lost citizenship since the notification of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Speaking to Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi at the Rising Bharat Summit in New Delhi, Shah lashed out at Congress for fomenting unrest in the country over CAA.

"I challenge Rahul Gandhi to tell me if a single Muslim lost citizenship. They (Congress) hoodwinked the entire country that the government will snatch (their) citizenshop ... it also led to violence. They are responsible for this," Shah said.

He was referring to widespread protests across India after Parliament passed the citizenship law in December 2019.

Shah also questioned Rahul for his silence during the debate in Parliament over the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.

“Why did Priyanka Gandhi not vote? Why did Rahul Gandhi not speak if this was such a big issue for them? Rahul Gandhi shouts from roof top that he is not allowed to speak ... why did he not? He could have spoken the entire time allotted to his party," he said.

During the interaction, Amit Shah addressed concerns whether some of the decisions taken by the government, like the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, will alienate the Muslim voters.

Shah said that not every decision is taken with an eye on vote.

"Not everything is done for vote. We would not have taken many major decisions if we engaged in vote bank politics. Some decisions are taken to weed out the wrong from the society," Shah said.