The support extended by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who put in a surprise appearance on Friday at the ongoing protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) here, has given strength to the agitation. The indefinite protest, organised on the lines of Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, has also been replicated in several towns of the State.
The Assembly passed a resolution against the CAA last month, but the ruling Congress leaders have been conspicuous by their absence at the protest site — Shaheed Smarak — since February 1. The protesters, who received support from civil society groups, had been expecting a clear assurance from the Congress.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Gehlot said an atmosphere of “anarchy and fear” was prevailing across the country amid apprehensions about the National Population Register and the proposed National Register of Citizens . “There is no justification for spending ₹76,000 crore and creating long queues of people for preparing the NRC. This has utterly failed in Assam.”
