Telangana to pass anti-CAA resolution

Telangana State Assembly will pass a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

This was announced late Sunday night after the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao.

The cabinet decided to pass a resolution the way Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal did, said a statement after nearly seven-hour long meeting at Pragati Bhavan, the official residence of the Chief Minister. The resolution will be passed in the budget session of the Assembly, likely to be held in the first week of March.

The cabinet also appealed to the Union government, not to discriminate on the basis of religion for according Indian citizenship.

“It requested that all religions must be treated as equal before the law. A Cabinet further requested the Central Government to take measures to abrogate the Citizenship

(Amendment) Act, 2019 which will lead to discriminate on the basis of religion while granting citizenship and thereby jeopardising secularism envisaged in the constitution,” said the statement.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) had voted against Citizenship Amendment Bill in Parliament.

Meanwhile, the ruling BJP in Karnataka is likely to push for a resolution in favour of the CAA during the ongoing Assembly session, top sources said on Monday.

The resolution is expected to be moved towards the end of the special discussion on the Constitution, scheduled for March 2 and 3, the sources said.

The move is bound to face stiff resistance from opposition parties — the Congress and JDS — in the Assembly.

Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri has decided to hold a special discussion on the Constitution on the two days to commemorate 70 years of the adoption of the Constitution.