As the nation gets ready for the next phase of polling, the Union Government, on 15 May has granted Citizenship to more than 300 applicants under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019, that came into effect on 11 March 2024, a few days before the Model Code of Conduct became applicable following announcement of the dates for Lok Sabha Elections 2024.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, in its media announcement also informed that 14 people were handed over Citizenship Certificates on 15 May. As per a media report, most of the applicants are Pakistani Hindus. The Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar handed over the certificates to these 14 persons in Delhi. 

As per the CAA, citizenship was facilitated through registration and naturalisation under Section 6B, CAA to undocumented migrants belonging to six communities i.e. Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian, from the neighboring countries, viz. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India on or before 31 December 2014. The qualifying period of continuous stay in the country has also been curtailed from 11 years to 5 years.