Nearly five years after it was passed by the Indian Parliament, the Centre on Monday implemented the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a measure which had triggered widespread protests earlier in the country.

The Indian government implemented the move just ahead of the announcement of dates for the Lok Sabha elections.

The CAA triggered widespread debate and intense protests across the nation since it was passed by the Parliament on December 11, 2019.

What is CAA?

The CAA, which was Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) before it was passed by the Indian Parliament, aims to grant citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi but not Muslim refugees who came to India before Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before 2015.

After its passage, protests were held in various parts of the country including Kolkata, Delhi and Assam.

The protests, however, fizzled out amid COVID-19-imposed restrictions and lockdowns.

Congress targets Centre over CAA implementation

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh slammed the Centre over the implementation of CAA and posted on X: "It has taken four years and three months for the Modi Government to notify the rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act that was passed by the Parliament in December 2019. The Prime Minister claims that his Government works in a business-like and time-bound manner. The time taken to notify the rules for the CAA is yet another demonstration of the Prime Minister’s blatant lies."

"After seeking nine extensions for the notification of the rules, the timing right before the elections is evidently designed to polarise the elections, especially in West Bengal and Assam. It also appears to be an attempt to manage the headlines after the Supreme Court’s severe strictures on the Electoral Bonds Scandal," he said.