Former Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday said the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will be scrapped in the first session of Parliament after the INDIA bloc forms the government at the Centre. He said the intention of the Congress party is to repeal the CAA even though it is not mentioned in its manifesto.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has been constantly lashing out at the Congress saying its manifesto fails to mention the CAA.
Addressing a press conference in Kerala, Chidambaram on Sunday claimed it was not mentioned in the manifesto "because it became too long". "There is a long list of laws among which five laws will be absolutely repealed. Take it from me, I am the chairman of the manifesto committee. I wrote every word of it, I know what the intention was. The CAA will be repealed, not amended. We have made it clear," Chidambaram said.
The Congress leader said that the CAA will be repealed in the first session of Parliament if the INDIA bloc forms the government. He also dismissed the claims of Vijayan that Congress has not opposed the Law and said Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has spoken against the CAA in Parliament.
When asked whether the Ayodhya Ram temple inauguration will have any impact on the elections, Chidambaram said he hopes not. "Ayodhya now has a temple. We are happy. People wanted the temple and a temple has come up. That should be the end of the story. Why should a temple in Ayodhya play a role in politics or in elections and on who should rule the country. It should have no role at all," Chidambaram said.
The Congress leader also spoke about the border dispute with China in Eastern Ladakh. He claimed that "thousands of square kilometres of Indian land was occupied by Chinese troops". "That's a fact testified by the MP from Ladakh. The fact testified by the Arunachal Pradesh citizens. Therefore, to say that they have secured our borders is a complete lie," Chidambaram said.
Congress and Left are part of the INDIA bloc but they are contesting against each other in the state.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is contesting from Wayanad against CPI's Annie Raja, wife of D Raja.
Kerala will vote on April 26.
(With inputs from PTI)