Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday asserted that the Government will not budge an inch on its decision to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) despite the opposition criticism of the law.

Launching an “awareness programme” in support of the amended citizenship law in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur, Shah accused the Congress and other opposition parties of running a misinformation campaign and further challenged them to continue the same.

He said the amended law does not take away Indian citizenship from anyone but grants citizenship.

“Minorities lived honourably in India while their percentage declined in neighbouring countries. There is no provision in the Citizenship Amendment Act to take anyone’s citizenship away, it is a law to grant citizenship.”

Shah also accused the Congress of playing vote-bank politics by spreading “misinformation”.

Directing his attack on Rahul Gandhi, Amit Shah threw a challenge to the Congress leader asking him to come for a debate on CAA.

“Rahul Baba kanoon padha hai toh kahin par bhi charcha karne ke liye aajao. Nahi padha hai toh main Italian mein bhi iska anuvaad karke apko bhej deta hun, usko padh lijiye (Rahul Baba, if you have read the law please come anywhere for a debate on it. If you haven’t read the law, I can help you with an Italian translation of it, please read the law),” he said as he took a dig at Rahul Gandhi.

Sharpening his attack on the Congress, Amit Shah further said that the opposition is speaking against a great personality like Veer Savarkar for vote-bank politics.

“Congressmen should be ashamed of themselves,” he added.

Shah further targeted Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot stating that instead of opposing CAA, he should first focus on the children dying in Kota. “Show some concern, mothers are cursing you.”

Shah’s rally is seen as an attempt of the BJP to corner the Chief Minister in his home turf as he has openly announced not to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens in Rajasthan while on the other hand, Gehlot’s presence in Jodhpur on same day also highlights his combativeness to counterattack the opposition.

Earlier, it was decided to hold the rally in Jaipur. However, senior BJP leaders opted for Jodhpur as it has over 20,000 Hindu migrants from Pakistan who will also be participating in this rally. This is the second rally of Shah being organised to support CAA as the first rally was organised in Kolkata. 30 such rallies are to be addressed by Shah to make people aware of the CAA.

Opposition parties have criticised the amendment which allows non-Muslims an easier path to citizenship if they have come to India from three neighbouring countries before 2015 after facing religious persecution.

The amended law seeks to provide citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have faced religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan and have arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014.