The opposition Congress in Odisha hit out at the ruling Biju Janata Dal over Home Minister Amit Shah's proposed pro-Citizenship (Amendment) Act rally in the State capital and asked Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to make his government and party's stand on the event clear.
Shah will be on a two-day visit to Odisha from February 28 during which he is slated to address a pro-CAA public meeting.
Raising the issue in the Legislative Assembly during Zero Hour, Congress MLA S S Saluja said, "Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MPs supported
CAA in both Houses of Parliament. But the chief minister after meeting a delegation of the minority community in Bhubaneswar, had said the state will not support the National Register of Citizens (NRC)."
This "change of stance" was creating confusion among the people, he said and sought to know whether the BJD leaders would also join Shah in the proposed pro-CAA rally or keep distance from it.
Saluja said the state government should have taken the people, who voted the BJD to power in the state five times in a row, into confidence before supporting the bill to amend the Citizenship Act.