'They are not above Constitution': Union Min on Kerala govt passing resolution against CAA

Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan, on Friday, lambasted the Kerala government for passing the resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and said that CM Pinarayi Vijayan led government should not waste public money. 

"Kerala government should realise they are not above law, they are not above the Constitution. They should not waste public money by passing resolutions and going to Courts on issues to which they are not related," he said while speaking to a news agency.

Pinarayi Vijayan trying "Good Boy" image: Cong leader

Meanwhile, on Friday, days after the Left government in Kerala moved the Supreme Court against the CAA, the Congress alleged that CM Vijayan was trying to implement the controversial act "secretly" in the southern state. 

"Though Vijayan was opposing the CAA in public, he and his government were going ahead with the steps to implement the controversial Act," Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala alleged at a press meet in Thiruvananthapuram.

"The Chief Minister should end his attempts to make political gains in the name of CAA. Instead of cheating people, he should ensure that the Act is not being implemented in the state," alleged Chennithala.

"Vijayan, who used to vehemently criticise the RSS and the Centre in all public meetings, was showing reluctance to stop the procedures in connection with the NPR, the cardinal part of the CAA," Chennithala claimed.

"The state government is now going ahead with plans to implement the CAA at any cost. Though they are opposing the CAA and NPR in public, the government is going ahead with the official steps to implement that in the state," he claimed.

While opposing the CAA in public, the Chief Minister was trying to adopt a "good boy" image in front of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah secretly, he said. Chennithala also alleged that the CPI(M)-led government was registering fake cases across the state against those protesting against the CAA.

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The Punjab government also passed a resolution against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in the State Assembly on Friday, becoming the second state to do so. State Minister Brahm Mohindra moved the resolution against the CAA on the second day of the two-day special Assembly session.

The newly amended citizenship law grants Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

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