AHMEDABAD, JAN 14
While pro and anti CAA camps continue to hold their respective grounds, the ideological battle between the two groups was fought in the sky literally with kites on Tuesday in Gujarat on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani led the pro-CAA camp while Home Minister Amit Shah was seen campaigning in his LS constituency.
The skies in the Western state virtually turned into a battleground with kite-flyers competing to knock out each other’s kites bearing messages like “We Support CAA” and “I Am Against CAA”. They comprised local leaders and supporters of the ruling BJP and Opposition Congress as well as common people and members of civil society.
Kites with the messages for and against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) printed on them were distributed in thousands in the state, where kite-flying is the main takeaway of the Makar Sankranti celebrations. The kites with messages like “India Against CAA”, “No NPR, No NCR”, “Save Constitution, Save India”, “Hindu-Muslim Bhai Bhai, NRC-CAA Bye Bye” were distributed by members of civil society among students and common people.
Ruling BJP seems to also have used the occasion to spread a message in support of the new citizenship law that has stirred politics in the country in a major way. A BJP leader from Rajkot said that he had distributed 50,000 kites with messages “We Support CAA” in that city.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani flew one such kite with a pro-CAA message from the rooftop of a residential society at Khokhra locality in Ahmedabad. “Life should also soar like kites and achieve new heights. Gujarat is a progressive state and we will continue to progress like a kite soaring high in the sky,” Rupani said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday flew a kite from a rooftop in Anand Nagar Road area here on the occasion of the Makar Sankranti festival. Shah was seen flying a kite from the rooftop of a building in Kanak Kala Society, accompanied by wife Sonalben Shah, state BJP president Jitu Vaghani and BJP’s youth morcha president Rutvij Patel. He also released saffron balloons on the occasion.
Vaghani was seen holding the spool for Shah as the home minister maneuvered the kite. The area is part of Shah’s Lok Sabha constituency, Gandhinagar.
Supporters of the BJP and local people also carried placards asking revellers to give a missed call on a dedicated phone number to register their support for the CAA. Workers of the BJP were also seen carrying placards and banners, and wearing T-shirts supporting the new citizenship act.
Congress leaders also used kites to criticise the government over issues like rising inflation, unemployment, CAA and NRC. “Inflation, economic slowdown, unemployment, rising crimes against women are major contemporary issues in Gujarat. We hope that the kites we fly on the occasion of Uttarayan will take away the pain of the people and will destroy these demons,” Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Paresh Dhanani said.
Meanwhile, police stepped up patrolling and combing in sensitive areas in Ahmedabad. Teams of Rapid Action Force (RAF) and State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) were also deployed on streets in Ahmedabad, a senior official said.
In Vadodara, police conducted flag marches in sensitive areas.
