Police are trying to confirm why the CPM leader took the extreme step.
A 72-year-old CPM worker, who was actively participating in protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA, is critical after he had allegedly set himself on fire on Friday, police said.
Ramesh Chandra Prajapat has suffered 90 per cent burns after he allegedly set himself ablaze near city's Gita Bhawan crossing. Several pamphlets were found in his bag that said that the CAA and National Register of Citizens "would put India's freedom and constitution at risk".
"The entire country is protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). Despite imposition of Section 144 (prohibitory orders), even women and children have taken to the streets. At least 30 people have died in police firing and thousands have been jailed," reads the pamphlet that also mentions police crackdown at the Jamia University and Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.
Police are trying to confirm why the CPM leader, who is a tailor by profession, took the extreme step.
"We got a letter from his pocket. We got to know that he is a member of CPM but his son, who is working with an IT firm, said he was not that motivated to take such extreme step," senior police officer Ruchi Vardhan Mishra said.
"Recording a statement at this time is difficult because he is in extremely critical condition," the police officer added.
CPM leader Kailash Limbodia confirmed that Prajapat was a party worker but added that they are not sure why he took the extreme step.
Massive protests have swept the country against the new citizenship law which makes religion test for citizenship for the first time in the history of the country. The government say the CAA grants citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from Muslim-majority countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan if they fled religious persecution and entered India before December 31, 2014. Critics believe the CAA, along with the NRC or citizen's list, will be used to target Muslims.