Citizenship law: Madhya Pradesh chief minister to lead Bhopal rally

The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath is expected to lead a rally in Bhopal after the Indian National Congress decided to hold the rally to protest the new Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The rally would start from Rang Mahal square and proceed towards Minto Hall in Bhopal city, report NDTV.

Two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared to contradict Home Minister Amit Shah on the controversial subject at the core of protests across the nation, Shah said there is no discussion on a nationwide National Register of Citizens right now. "There is no need to debate this (pan-India NRC) as there is no discussion on it right now, PM Modi was right, there is no discussion on it yet either in the Cabinet or Parliament," Amit Shah told news agency ANI on Tuesday.

On Sunday, PM Modi had said at a rally in Delhi that there was no talk of a nationwide rollout of the NRC. On Tuesday, nearly one lakh people took to the streets in Assam on Tuesday, the All Assam Students' Union has claimed; in what has been the biggest ever rally against the citizenship law.

Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which for the first time makes religion the test of citizenship in India. The government says it will help minorities from three Muslim-dominated countries to get citizenship if they fled to India because of religious persecution. Critics say it is designed to discriminate against Muslims and violates the secular principals of the constitution.