Modi govt diverting people's attention from core economic issues: AK Antony

Senior Congress leader AK Antony on Saturday said that the Modi government through its recent decisions is trying to divert the attention of people from core economic issues and its failure in tackling them.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is spreading all these things just to divert the attention of the people from the core economic issues and the failure of the government. The country is burning, the economy is in deep crisis. Unemployment is highest in the last 40 years and the farm sector is in deep distress. Industries are closing and workers are not getting jobs. As a result, people are coming to the streets," Antony told reporters here.

"This government has already decided to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) but they made differing statements in the recent past. Instead of going around in circles, the government should directly say that they will not implement the divisive Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and NRC," he added.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday accused Congress of spreading rumours about the newly-amended citizenship law and challenged party leader Rahul Gandhi to highlight even one clause in the Act which has any provision to take away people's citizenship.

"Congress and company are spreading rumours that this Act will take away the citizenship of minorities. I challenge Rahul to show even one clause in the Act that has provision to take away citizenship. Do not disrupt the peace in the country and lead people astray," Shah said.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists, and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.