India News | LDF, UDF in Kerala Opposes CAA, Terms It as Ploy to Divert Attention from Electoral Bond Case

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 11 (PTI) Kerala's ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) on Monday strongly criticised the Central government's decision to enforce the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, labelling it as a strategic move aimed at diverting attention from the ongoing Electoral Bond case.

Both sides announced that the controversial law would be thrown into the Arabian Sea once the INDIA alliance comes to power post the elections.

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Senior CPI(M) leader and State Law Minister P Rajeeve said the BJP sought to divert attention by implementing the Act and achieve political advantage by fostering communal polarisation in the country.

State Congress chief K Sudhakaran urged the people of the state to oppose the Act with all their might, which he termed as a communally divisive law.

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"We declare that once the INDIA alliance comes to power, the CAA will be thrown into the Arabian Sea. I urge everyone to vigorously oppose the implementation of this Act, a communally divisive law," Sudhakaran said.

Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader P K Kunhalikutty termed as illegal the decision to implement the Act just "days before the election".

"We will move to court and seek legal remedy. This is against the Indian Constitution, and it is illegal. Granting citizenship based on religion is unheard of anywhere in the world," Kunhalikutty said.

The IUML is a party in the case filed in the apex court against the Act.

The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) announced that a statewide protest will be held on March 12.

Rajeeve said the Centre announced the implementation of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 on a day when it received a major blow from the Supreme Court in the electoral bond case.

He alleged that the BJP wanted to divert the attention of the country from discussing the electoral bond issue.

"With the SBI releasing electoral bond data tomorrow, the main debate in this election would have been the electoral bond scam. The implementation of the Act was announced today to divert country-wide attention from the electoral bond issue," Rajeeve said.

Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly V D Satheesan said the Citizenship Act is an election stunt of the Central government.

He alleged that the BJP was implementing a fascist strategy to maintain power by dividing people and taking political advantage of it.

"In the petition filed by the Muslim League in the Supreme Court against the Act, the Central government replied that it was not planning to implement the law. The BJP is trying to gain political advantage by dividing people. We will fight this," Satheesan said.

Kerala was the first Legislature to pass a resolution against the CAA and the government had announced that the NPR (National Population Register) will not be implemented in the state.

The state government had filed a suit against the Central government in the Supreme Court citing the unconstitutionality of the CAA, and a human chain was also formed on the national highway from northern Manjeswaram to southern Parassala in protest.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)