CM flays Cong. for being mute on CAA

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has slammed the Congress for being mute in its opposition to the “patently antiMuslim” Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Mr. Vijayan said Rahul Gandhi, who is seeking reelection from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, has not uttered a word about the Central government’s Lok Sabha election eve push to impose the communally divisive law that seeks to relegate Muslims to a subaltern status by setting religion as a criterion for citizenship. Mr. Vijayan said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge restricted himself to a cursory remark on social media against the Centre’s framing of rules to implement the law.

Close home, Mr. Vijayan said, Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C.

Venugopal, the Opposition candidate for the Alappuzha constituency, has questioned the Centre’s fouryear delay in implementing the contentious law. “He found the Central government’s timing inappropriate and saw no fundamental flaw in the antiConstitutional legislation,” Mr. Vijayan said.

Mr. Vijayan said that in 2019 the Congress initially supported the Assembly’s resolution urging the Centre to annul the divisive law. Later it changed tack. None of the Congress MP’s from Kerala challenged the CAA in the Lok Sabha.

He said no Congress leader was arrested for supporting antiCAA protesters in New Delhi. “They were dining in Sonia Gandhi’s house even as CPI(M) leaders and MPs got arrested for protesting the law.” Mr. Vijayan. The LDF government would not implement the CAA in Kerala, despite the Congress’ best efforts to undermine the State’s resolve, he said.