Five years after it was passed by Parliament, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was put into effect by the Centre on Monday. The notification is made before the Election Commission of India releases the dates for the Lok Sabha elections.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated last month that with the release of the relevant regulations, the CAA will be put into effect prior to this year's Lok Sabha elections.

After being passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019, the CAA has generated a great deal of discussion and widespread opposition throughout India.

The Citizenship Act of 1955 is amended by the CAA to give migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who are members of the Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian communities and who arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014, a streamlined route to Indian citizenship because they were subjected to religious persecution back home.

Protest meetings were held in Guwahati, Assam, while sit-ins occurred at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi. When COVID-19 imposed lockdowns and limitations, all protests dissolved.

The Delhi Police has increased security in and around the Shaheen Bagh area, which served as the focal point of the previous round of anti-CAA rallies, following the government's notification.

Congress, meanwhile, expressed doubts about the government's notification's timing and claimed it was done to "polarise the elections."

"The Modi administration took four years and three months to announce the regulations pertaining to the Citizenship Amendment Act, which was approved by the Parliament in December of 2019. According to the prime minister, his government operates in a methodical and businesslike manner. Congress's Communications In-Charge Jairam Ramesh wrote on X, "The time taken to notify the rules for the CAA is yet another demonstration of the Prime Minister's blatant lies."

"It is clear that the timing of the regulations immediately before the elections is intended to polarise the elections, particularly in West Bengal and Assam, after nine extensions were requested for their notification. In light of the tight restrictions imposed by the Supreme Court on the Electoral Bonds issue, it also seems to be an attempt to control the news," he continued.