'BJP doesn't need approval from KCR or Owaisi': Kishan Reddy hits out at T'gana govt

Slamming the Telangana government over refusing to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the state, Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said that the BJP does not need a certificate of approval from Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao or AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi over its policies.

"The BJP does not need a certificate from KCR or Owaisi. We work keeping in mind the welfare of the people of this country," Reddy said on Monday.

"K Chandrashekar Rao claims that the BJP-led central government is trying to turn India into a Hindu Rashtra. The Chief Minister is lecturing the BJP after compromising and forming an alliance with Majlis Party (AIMIM) which does politics over religion," he added.

Kishan Reddy's statement came after Telangana Chief Minister KCR opposed the CAA and asked the Central government to reconsider its decision. On Saturday, KCR appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rethink over CAA while reaffirming that the state is against the law.

READ | Kishan Reddy Slams Telangana CM From Attacking Centre On CAA

READ | 'Unbelievable Arbitrariness': Asaduddin Owaisi Fearmongers Over NPR Data Collection

Kishan Reddy's challenge to KCR

Taking exception to Telangana Chief Minister's criticism of the NDA government at the BJP government over the CAA issue, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Sunday challenged K Chandrasekhar Rao to point out anything in the amended Citizenship Act that affects anyone in the country.

His response came a day after Rao said the state Assembly may pass a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) like some other states did recently. 

READ | Telangana Assembly May Pass Resolution Against CAA: CM

State BJP president K Laxman claimed that CM Rao has joined the Congress in opposing CAA with "unfounded doubts and ill- motives." 

The Citizenship Amendment Act seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians who faced religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

READ | 'Asaduddin Owaisi Creating Panic On CAA Among People In Telangana', Says BJP's Dr Laxman

(With inputs from ANI)

(Image credits: PTI)