The celebration was marked with cake in presence of several party leaders, ministers and well wishers who thronged his residence (Naveen Niwas) in the morning with flower bouquet to wish him. Many were seen taking selfie with him.
Patnaik expressed his deep gratitude to all his well wishers and vowed to continue his service for people.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, MP Baijayant Panda, and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee extended warm wishes to the bachelor CM through tweets.
Birthday wishes to Odisha CM Shri Naveen Patnaik. I pray that he leads a long life blessed with good health. @Naveen_Odisha
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 16, 2017
Warm birthday greetings to Chief Minister of Odisha Shri @Naveen_Odisha Babu. May god bless him with good health and long life.
— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) October 16, 2017
Wishing @Naveen_Odisha a very happy birthday. May Lord Jagannath bless you in serving Odisha & her people???
— Baijayant Jay Panda (@PandaJay) October 16, 2017
Happy birthday Naveen babu @Naveen_Odisha Wishing you good health and happiness
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) October 16, 2017
The Biju Chhatra Janata Dal (BCJD), BJD's student's wing, has decided to celebrate its party chief’s birthday by organising blood donation camp at BJD headquarters.
Party leaders have also planned to hold similar camps at other places across the State, sources said.
Meanwhile, the State government has put up hoardings across the city praising Naveen as an abled administrator. "Katha nuhe, Kathina Parishrma (No speech, hard work only)" read the headline of the hoardings.
Naveen didn't celebrate his birthday last year to mourn sacrifices of martyrs who fought against terrorists. He had also requested his well-wishers not to organise any programme.
In 2015, some students had sustained injuries in explosion of gas-filled balloon when they were coming in a rally to wish the CM.
In 2014, Naveen had declared not to celebrate the nbirthday for cyclone Hudhud and in 2013 for cyclone Phailin. In 2011, the CM had also decided to stay away from any celebration, expressing solidarity with people who suffered in flood then.
"All commoners are not terrorists. Some may be terrorists and they will be considered as terrorists. There is a distinction between terrorists and commoners. In every community, there can be good people and bad ones but a community is a community," Banerjee said here.
The central government told the Supreme Court not to interfere in the Rohingya issue as it was a policy decision to deport them and that some of them were linked to Pakistani terrorist groups.
As the apex court heard a petition challenging their deportation to Myanmar, the central government told the judges this was an "essential executive" decision taken in the larger national interest.
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju on Monday said the government's stand to deport Rohingya refugees was in the nation's interest.
The Trinamool Congress supremo, however, said innocents should not suffer.
"If any terrorist is there, the government has to take action against them but the commoners should not suffer. This is humanity. If commoners suffer, humanity will suffer," she said.
Banerjee said the central government has asked the state government to formulate a list of the refugees.
"They (central government) asked us to list out the children and others and send the list, for deportation. Our child commission does not agree to it," she added.
In Bengal, Mamata Banerjee got an incredible victory with absolute majority. The people of Bengal have given huge mandate in favor of Didi and cleared the way for her to become the Chief Minister for the third consecutive term.
Political experts say that after this election, Mamata has emerged as a powerful leader who can compete with anyone. The power of Bengal is now in the hands of Didi, but after becoming the Chief Minister, there are many challenges before her.
The biggest challenge in this front is the growing graph of Corona cases in West Bengal which seems to be out of control. The first and foremost challenge for Mamata Benerjee as a Chief Minister is to control the rising graphs of Corona in the State.
This is the first time the active cases of Corona in West Bengal have crossed the one lakh mark. The election in West Bengal is the one of the main reasons behind the increase in Corona case in the state. Till March 24 i.e. the first phase elections, 628 cases were identified on daily basis in West Bengal. But during the eighth phase election, the Corona picture in the state completely changed. On April 29, till the eighth phase poll, more than 14,000 corona cases started coming up in Bengal in a single day. Realising this fact in her post result press conference, Mamata said, “My first priority is to handle the Covid situation. I appeal to my workers not to hold any victory rally .We can do it later after this Corona situation will get over. Now our main focus should be to handle Corona situation in the state.”
The second challenge is Vaccination. West Bengal has a population of about nine crore but so far, only 23 lakh people have been vaccinated. In such a situation, it is a big challenge for Mamata to vaccinate such a large population.
The third challenge is organised Opposition. The BJP has won 77 Assembly seats in Bengal and the saffron that has emerge as the second largest political party in West Bengal, will sit in the Opposition. For the first time, Mamata will get a tough challenge from the organised opposition in the form of BJP.
Unemployment is a big issue in West Bengal and Mamata was blamed in the past for not addressing this issue as seriously as it has to be. According to the rising Unemployment graph in the state, the rate of unemployment in West Bengal has reached 6.7 percent. After being sworn in as Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata will have to work on a plan to reduce unemployment.
Banerjee said that she had expressed her desire to quit the Chief Minister's post at an emergent meeting of the Trinamool Congress, but her decision was not endorsed by those present at the meeting.
"I feel insulted. In the meeting I expressed my desire to step down as Chief Minister, but the meeting did not endorse my decision," Banerjee told media persons.
Banerjee, on her way to address a protest meeting against the alleged "capture" of the Naihati municipality by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was about to get into her vehicle after talking to a group of policemen when some youths started shouting 'Jai Shri Ram'.
A furious Banerjee rushed out of her vehicle twice to confront the youth, while issuing a verbal warning to them. "Come here you BJP criminals. If you have guts come in front of me," she said.
"There is a limit of indecent behaviour. I was travelling in a vehicle. These people wearing BJP's headband started abusing me and tried to attack my vehicle," she told the media persons here.
A similar incident had occurred on May 4 at Chandrakona in the West Midnapore district when the Trinamool Congress chief stepped out from her vehicle to confront people who were raising Lord Ram slogan in front of her convoy.
Addressing a protest demonstration in Naihati, Banerjee also viciously attacked the BJP saying she hates them for practising communal and divisive politics. She said she was confident the saffron party will not get a single seat in Bengal in the 2021 Assembly elections.
The incidents took place in Bhatpara and Naihati, while Banerjee was on her way to address a demonstration outside the Naihati Municipality against the alleged "capture" of the civic body by the BJP in the aftermath of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Banerjee was about to get into his vehicle after giving some instructions to the police officers in Bhatpara when a group of youths gathered near her convoy raised the "Jai Sree Ram" slogan.
A furious Banerjee dashed out of her vehicle twice in a bid to confront the youths, accused them of abusing her and issued a verbal warning to them.
"Come here you BJP criminals. If you have guts come in front of me," she said.
"There is a limit to indecent behaviour. I am going in my vehicle. These people wearing BJP's headband are abusing me and trying to attack my convoy. How dare they? We are letting them stay here. They are not from Bengal, they are outsiders," she told the media present.
Bhatpara, that has a large number of Hindi speaking people. Barrackpore Lok Sabha MP Arjun Singh, Trinamool Congress turn-coat who joined the BJP enjoys clout in the area.
Singh is also the former MLA of Bhatpara. After his defection to the BJP, byelection was held for the Assembly seat and Singh's son Pawan Kumar Singh became the new MLA defeating Trinamool's heavyweight Madan Mitra.
The other incident took place near Naihati when some locals chanted "Jai Sree Ram" when her convoy was passing by.
Banerjee again stepped out of her vehicle and challenged the locals to come in front of her and show their faces.
"I will not tolerate this hooliganism. I will not let you people turn Bengal into Gujrat," she said before being escorted back to her car by her security guards.
A similar incident had occurred on May 4 in West Midnapore district's Chandrakona when the Trinamool Congress supremo stepped and confronted the people who chanted the name of Lord Ram in front of her convoy.
"I hate a party like BJP that practices communal and divisive politics. Some hoodlums are torturing the people with the help of two traitors. They also rigged the votes here. How dare they?" she said.
"I will restore this seat. It is a challenge. You will not get a single seat in Bengal in the Assembly polls. If I am alive, you will not get a single seat in the Assembly or the civic body elections."
"If you hit me, I will hit back. Do not try to intimidate me in the name of central government. Like central government we are also an elected government," she said claiming her party candidate in the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat Dinesh Trivedi lost in a slender margin as BJP goons rigged the votes.
Claiming that BJP's downfall has started, the Trinamool Congress supremo claimed that the saffron party activists have started torturing people of Bengal even before their government has taken oath at the Centre.
"I do not think that all the Hindi speaking people are bad. But some noted criminals, who are not even residents of Bengal, are tormenting the people here with BJP's support," she added.
Thirty four doctors at Kalyani's Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Hospital also tendered their resignations in solidarity with the state's government hospital doctors who resigned on Friday, the hospital authorities said.
"Yesterday, the Director Medical Education of West Bengal University of Health Sciences verbally informed us that Chief Minister has asked to meet some of our representatives at her office. For the last two days, the CM has made offensive and inappropriate statements directed towards doctors.
"Following that, we faced mob attacks and physical assaults at different medical and dental colleges and hospitals across the state. We are deeply upset and hopeless and we feel highly insecure and apprehensive about our representatives' meeting with her behind the closed doors. That is why we are not sending any representative to her office," Abhishek Sarkar, an intern at the College told reporters after their General Body meeting.
The doctors said that right from the beginning they were "open to a healthy discussion".
"We want an urgent solution to this situation. We shall resume our duties as soon as our demands for proper security and safety at work place are met. We humbly request the Chief Minister to meet all of us at NRS Medical College and Hospital and discuss and implement all our demands at the earliest," said Sarkar reading out a statement by the agitating doctors.
The statement also mentioned that the doctors were deeply concerned about the sufferings of the common people.
The invite from the Chief Minister's secretariat to the junior doctors was sent after five senior doctors, led by Sukumar Mukherjee, called on Banerjee and offered to mediate to resolve the stalemate, which has paralysed medical services at the state's government hospitals.
After the offer was declined, the talks were deferred till 5 p.m. on Saturday, so as to give the quintet of veterans time enough to persuade the medicos to attend the meeting.
Meanwhile, health services in West Bengal's state-run hospitals remained partially disrupted on Saturday as the "cease work" by junior doctors, protesting against attacks on their colleagues and demanding adequate security measures, continued for the fifth day.
Though the out-patient departments remained closed, the emergency services in all the state-run hospitals, including the NRS, were functional on Saturday, doctors said.
"The junior doctors are still on strike, but the emergency services are open," West Bengal Doctors Forum President Arjun Sengupta told IANS.
Indian Medical Association (IMA) President Santanu Sen on Friday held a meeting with the senior doctors and administrative authorities at the NRS Hospital to find a possible solution to the ongoing impasse.
However, the agitating doctors claimed that the meeting would not bear any positive outcome because Sen was a Rajya Sabha MP of the state's ruling Trinamool Congress.
Sen courted a controversy saying that "some non-medical persons with vested interests were brain-washing junior doctors to let the chaotic situation persist".
After their general body meeting, the striking doctors held a demonstration at the hospital premises condemning Sen's comment.
The latest advisory states "this Ministry is in receipt of a number of representations from doctors, health care professionals and medical associations from different parts of the country for their safety and security in view of the ongoing strike by doctors in West Bengal. It is requested that a detailed report be sent urgently on the representations and ongoing strike by the doctors."
The ministry had sought a report from the West Bengal government regarding measures in place to strengthen security for doctors, who are currently on strike in the state.
The doctors' in the eastern state are currently on strike after a brutal assault on two junior doctors earlier this week at a Kolkata hospital.
On Friday night, the striking doctors rejected a proposal from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for talks at the state secretariat Nabanna, and stuck to their demand that she would have to come down to the NRS Medical College and Hospital, the epicentre of the protest movement, to listen to their grievances and apologise for "casting aspersions" on them.
Though the out-patient departments remained closed, emergency services in all the state-run hospitals, including the NRS, were functional on Saturday, doctors said.
"The strike is still on by the junior doctors. However, the emergency departments are open to treat the patients in serious condition. As of now no decisions have been made regarding holding any meeting with the state administration," West Bengal Doctors Forum President Arjun Sengupta told IANS.
In an open letter to doctors and medical fraternity, she appealed to all help in restoring normal healthcare services without any delay.
"Our government is cooperating fully and taking all necessary action...some misinformation/disinformation being spread on social media by some political parties is completely untrue," Banerjee said in the letter.
She expressed her gratitude to senior doctors and professors who are offering full services to the people.
"My humble regards to them for their cooperation," the letter said.
"Health service is always dedicated to the patients. I, therefore, appeal to all to restore normal health services to the patients without any further delay," Banerjee said.
She said the state government has taken "all necessary action whatever required - our Additional Chief Secretary, Health, visited the injured doctor and met a section of the agitating junior doctors and appealed to them to resume services".
Protesting against the brutal attack on two junior doctors by the family members of a dead patient in the NRS Medical College and Hospital on Monday night, doctors across the state have stopped work at the outpatient departments in most government hospitals in the state since Wednesday.
Banerjee said five persons have been arrested and their bail prayers were rejected by the court and an enquiry has been started to look into issues from all sides.
"Our government has taken full care of the injured doctor. We pray that he recovers quickly. As per information received, he is stable and improving," she said.
"An unfortunate incident took place in NRS Hospital 4 days ago. I sent my colleague, Chandrima Bhattacharjee, Minister-of-State, Health and Family Welfare, to visit the injured doctor and talk to a section of the junior doctors who are agitating and request them to withdraw the agitation as people are not getting treatment... I sent Commissioner of Police, Kolkata to talk to the junior doctors," the letter said.
Cancer and kidney patients, accident victims, even children coming from distant places are suffering for not getting treatment, Banerjee said.
"Today is the anniversary of the #Emergency declared in 1975. For the last five years, the country went through a 'Super Emergency'," Banerjee tweeted.
The Emergency refers to the period from June 25, 1975 to March 21, 1977, when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had declared a state of Emergency, a political environment leading to the suspension of election and curbing civil liberties on the nation.
"We must learn our lessons from history and fight to safeguard the democratic institutions in the country," Banerjee wrote.
"On this day in 1945, Netaji went on a flight from Taihoku Airport in Taiwan, only to disappear forever. We still do not know what happened to him. People have a right to know about the great son of the soil," Banerjee tweeted.
A section of Bose's family, as also some researchers, believe that Netaji died in a plane crash at Taihoku airport. However, other sections of the family, as also a large number of researchers and admirers of the revolutionary leader, have rejected the air crash theory.
The Indian government constituted as many as three probe commissions to ferret out the truth behind Netaji's disappearance.
In 1999, the Mukherjee Commission, led by retired Supreme Court judge M.K. Mukherjee initiated an exhaustive six-year-long probe into the "alleged disappearance" of Netaji.
The Commission concluded that the air crash theory was planted to give a cover to Netaji's escape. The COngress-led Central government in 2006 rejected the Commission's report.
The Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government in 2015 declassified 64 files on Netaji.
The Narendra Modi-led Union government has also made public a series of files relating to the revolutionary.
Her statement came after Union Home minister Amit Shah pitched for a common language for the country and said it is Hindi which is spoken the most and can unite the whole country.
Greeting people on the occasion of Hindi Divas, Banerjee tweeted, "My best wishes to all on #HindiDiwas. We should respect all languages and cultures equally. We may learn many languages but we should never forget our mother-language." She also posted the greetings in another tweet in Hindi.
In a series of tweets in Hindi, Home Minister Shah said,"India has many languages and every language has its importance. But it is absolutely necessary that the entire country should have one language that becomes India's identity internationally".
Shah said that today, if any language which can unite the country, it is Hindi that is spoken the most.
"I want to appeal to people to promote their native languages but also use Hindi to make the dream of Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi) and Sardar (Vallabhbhai) Patel of one language come true," he tweeted.
Later, speaking at a 'Hindi Divas' function in New Delhi, Shah said Hindi should reach every individual and every home in the country.
Hindi Divas is observed to mark the decision of the Constituent Assembly to extend official language status to Hindi on this day in 1949. It was first observed in 1953.
In a tweet, Banerjee also called for respecting all languages and cultures. "My best wishes to all on #HindiDiwas. We should respect all languages and cultures equally. We may learn many languages, but we should not forget our mother language," Banerjee said.
हिंदी दिवस पर आप सभी को हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं। हमें सभी भाषाओं और संस्कृतियों का समान रूप से सम्मान करना चाहिए। हम कई भाषाएँ सीख सकते हैं लेकिन हमें अपनी मातृ-भाषा को कभी नहीं भूलना चाहिए
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) September 14, 2019
The MLA from Bairia Assembly constituency Surendra Singh said the Trinamool Congress supremo should "become the Prime Minister of Bangladesh" as she was opposed to the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
"The statements made by Mamata Banerjee against the NRC show that she is backed by foreign forces," Singh told reporters here on Saturday on the sidelines of a 'krishi mela'.
"It seems that Mamata is forgetting that bad days are approaching her. She should change her language and behaviour otherwise she will meet the same fate as Congress leader P Chidambaram," he said.
On September 13, Mamata Banerjee took out a rally in Kolkata against the NRC in Assam after the final list was released on August 31 which left out 19 lakh people.
After the rally, the TMC chief had said that she would never allow the Centre to conduct a similar exercise in West Bengal.
Singh, however, said: "If Mamata wants to do politics by protecting the infiltrators from Bangladesh then she should become the Prime Minister of Bangladesh."
"In Bengal, lord Ram and lord Hanuman respectively in form of Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath have appeared, and in the next Assembly elections, there will be a change of power in the state," he added.
On the occasion of the International Day of Democracy on Sunday, she urged the countrymen to safeguard the constitutional values upon which independent India was founded.
"On the #InternationalDayofDemocracy today (Sunday), let us once again pledge to safeguard the constitutional values our country was founded on.
"In this era of 'Super Emergency', we must do all it takes to protect the rights and freedoms that our Constitution guarantees," she tweeted.
The Trinamool Congress supremo has time and again said that the country is going through 'Super Emergency' under the BJP-led NDA rule at the Centre.
The United Nations General Assembly had in 2007 resolved to observe September 15 every year as the International Day of Democracy to uphold and promote the principles of democracy.
The West Bengal assembly has passed a resolution to rename the state as 'Bangla'.
Describing her meeting with the prime minister as fruitful, Banerjee told reporters that renaming West Bengal has been her government's prime agenda. "...hence we have proposed the renaming keeping 'Bangla' in mind. The prime minister has assured all help," she said.
She said the prime minister was also extended an invitation to inaugurate Deocha Pachami, the second largest coal block in the world, after Durga Puja.
Responding to a question on the National Register of Citizens, she said it is part of Assam Accord, hence there is no provision of its implementation in West Bengal. "Neither has any proposal come, nor will it be done," she asserted.
The Prime Minister's Office had earlier tweeted pictures of the two leaders at the official residence of Modi.
Banerjee is seen presenting a bouquet to the prime minister.
"Shame on the BJP for creating panic over the NRC in Bengal. It has triggered six deaths. Have faith in me, I will never allow the exercise in Bengal," Banerjee said.
Iterating that her government would never allow any NRC exercise in the state, Banerjee went a step further and asserted that no such process will be undertaken anywhere else in the country as the Assam NRC list was mandated by the Assam Accord of 1985.
The Chief Minister also asked the people to get their names registered on the voters' list as work on its updation was on.
Addressing a workers' rally at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here, Banerjee alleged that the BJP was carrying out a fake campaign on a future NRC list in Bengal as part of its political propaganda.
"Leave out Bengal, NRC won't take place anywhere else. The NRC list published in Assam was mandated by the Assam Accord of 1985. Just because somebody says it will happen, it doesn't mean such an exercise will take place. They need it (NRC) for their politics, for their political propaganda," she said.
Assam witnessed a six-year-long movement from 1979 to 1985 seeking detection and deportation of illegal Bangladeshis.
The movement finally led to the Assam Accord of 1985 signed by the then Congress ruled centre and the leaders of the agitation belonging to the All Assam Students Union and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad in the presence of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
As per the Assam Accord, March 24 (midnight), 1971, was decided as the cut-off date for inclusion in the NRC list for the northeastern state.
Banerjee said the BJP was trying to divide Hindus and Muslims, and took a dig at the saffron party for the deletion of names of 13 lakh Hindus from the final NRC list brought out in Assam last month.
"They can never do it in Bengal. Who will do it? They will need the state government machinery. We won't allow any such thing to happen. Don't worry," she said.
Banerjee also lashed out against those claiming that 1971 would be the cut-off year for a future NRC in Bengal, saying, "Who is saying all this? Why would you need documents of 1971? Don't listen to anyone carrying out such propaganda. Some television channels are trying to raise their ratings by instilling fear in you. Don't watch these channels."
Banerjee said she herself cannot produce her mother's birth certificate. "If they want my mother's birth certificate, can I give? Then why are you worried? Please have faith in me."
The Central Board of Secondary Education had added Urdu, Marathi and Gujarati in 2014 to the exam medium. However, in 2016, it dropped Urdu and Marathi but continued with Gujarati apart from Hindi and English. The National Testing Agency (NTA) took over the exam in 2019 from the CBSE.
"Joint Entrance Exams so long were conducted in English and Hindi languages. Surprisingly, now only Gujarati language has been added. Such a step is not at all praiseworthy," Banerjee tweeted.
If Gujarati has to be there, then all regional languages, including Bengali must be there, the chief minister said.
"Our country is India, which is home to so many religions, cultures, languages, creeds and communities. However, maligning all regions and regional languages is the intention of the government at the Centre," Banerjee said.
"I love Gujarati language. But, why have other regional languages been ignored? Why injustice is being meted out to them?," she asked.
Unless the issue was decided "gracefully", there would be strong protests all around as sentiments of people who speak other regional languages would be deeply hurt due to "this injustice," the Trinamool Congress supremo said.
The notification of JEE 2020 states that candidates will have to opt language of Question Paper while filling up the online application form.
For all "centre cities", the languages of question papers will be in English and Hindi. But for the "centre cities" in Gujarat, Daman and Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli, the languages should be English, Hindi and Gujarati.
Incidentally, Banerjee's nephew and party MP Abhishek Banerjee had also observed on his Twitter handle that it was "unconstitutional" to set the JEE question papers only in English, Hindi and Gujarati respectively.
Banerjee expressed her sadness over his taking to the Twitter frequently to criticise of her government and urged the governor to cooperate with it to maintain peace in the state.
"I am really sorry to see your frequent tweets and press briefings criticising the state government and also involving the senior officers of the state," Banerjee wrote to Dhankhar.
Dhankhar asked Banerjee over the microblogging site during the day to personally update him on Tuesday about the current situation in the state in view of the violence over the amended Citizenship Act.
He has been at loggerheads with the TMC government in the state soon after taking up office in July end over a number of issues and had taken to expressing his views a number of times over Twitter.
The governor had on Monday also expressed his displeasure on Twitter at the state's chief secretary and the director-general of police's failure to turn up despite his summons to them to brief him on the prevailing unrest in parts of the state. He had described their absence as "unfortunate and unexpected".
Banerjee in her letter said, "You (Dhankhar) would no doubt appreciate that the prime focus of the state administration at present is to maintain the peaceful situation as against what is going (on) throughout the country".
"The (governor's) constitutional obligation in my view is to support the state government machinery to maintain peace and harmony rather than aggrevating the situation by provoking elements who may attempt to disturb the order and tranquility," she said.
"Please cooperate to maintain peace," Banerjee added.
Dhankar took to Twitter yet again to give his reply. He tweeted, "My response to the letter of the chief minister has been sent. Looking forward to meeting her tomorrow. Urged her to work in tandem and togetherness in public interest and engage in soul searching".
Dhankhar had summoned the two top officials of the state on Sunday.
Top sources in the state administration said the chief secretary and the DGP would brief the governor at an "appropriate time".
Violent protests over the amended Citizenship Act continued to rock parts of West Bengal for the third consecutive day. Several incidents of vandalism and arson were reported from different districts.
(PTI)
Banerjee also appealed to other states, particularly those in the North-East, to pass such resolutions.
"We have also passed a resolution against NRCA three months ago. We will pass a resolution against CAA also within three-four days," Banerjee told mediapersons.
The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala and Congress ruled Punjab have already passed resolutions in the respective state assemblies demanding scrapping of the controversial CAA.
TheA CAA, passed in Parliament last month, seeks to provide Indian nationality to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists fleeing persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before December 31, 2014.
As per the Act, such communities will not be treated as illegal immigrants now and will be given Indian citizenship.
The legislation, which has come into force on January 10, has led to intense protests across the country, with students coming out on the streets in thousands in almost all the states. Civil society members, anti-BJP political parties and commoners have also joined the protests.
(IANS)