The Kerala Assembly passed a resolution, tabled by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, against the Citizenship Amendment Act even as protests raged across the country.
PTI reported that the ruling CPI(M)-LDF and the Opposition Congress led UDF supported the resolution while BJP’s lone MLA and former Union minister O Rajagopal’s was only person who voted against the motion.
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This comes as several states across the country, mostly led by non-BJP governments, have refused to implement the CAA.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been one of the most vocal critics of the CAA.
On Tuesday, NCP chief Sharad Pawar extended his support to Banerjee.
In the letter Pawar said he pledged “to stand in solidarity with all like-minded leaders and parties to protest against the implementation of the CAA and nationwide NRC.”
“I would appeal to everyone to join hands against the BJP and isolate them everywhere. Political parties, civil society groups and students’ communities should oppose and isolate the party across the country. They want to take away our independence. We will not let that happen,” PTI quoted Banerjee as saying on Tuesday.
Banerjee also lent support to the students protesting across the country.
“I extend my support to students protesting (against the law). I will not stop my protest till the CAA is withdrawn. Just ensure that your name appears on the voters’ list. The rest will be taken care of by me. No one will have to leave this country,” she said.
Banerjee, who is among the vocal critics of the BJP, insisted that no one would have to leave the country as long as she was alive.
“Your (Centre’s) writ runs in Delhi. Don’t think the state will fall in line. We will neither implement CAA nor NPR in Bengal. You can do whatever you want to...”
“As long as I am alive, CAA will not be implemented in Bengal. No one has to leave the country or the state. There will not be any detention centre in Bengal,” the CM, who has held five protest marches and two rallies in Kolkata since December 16 against the citizenship law, added.
PTI reported that while presenting the resolution, CM Vijayan said, “The Act contradicts the basic values and principles of the Constitution.”
“In view of the anxiety among the people of the country, the Centre should take steps to drop the CAA and uphold the secular outlook of the Constitution,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)