Chidambaram criticises Vijayan, who has been vocal against Congress and Rahul Gandhi, and asked the Left leader to look at this election as a national election…reports Asian Lite News
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday said the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will be repealed in the first session of Parliament after the INDIA Bloc forms the government at the Centre.
Chidambaram 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 and the CPI(M) has been constantly lashing out at the Congress saying its manifesto fails to mention the CAA. Talking to the media, P Chidambaram claimed it was not mentioned in the manifesto “because it became too long”.
The former union minister said the 10-year-rule of the BJP has caused tremendous damage to the country as it misused the “brute majority” in Parliament.
“There is a long list of laws among which five laws will be absolutely repealed.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 The CAA will be repealed, not amended.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The CAA will be repealed in the first session of Parliament in which the INDIA Bloc forms the government, he added. Dismissing the claims of Vijayan that the Congress has not opposed the Law, Chidambaram 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,” Mr Chidambaram said.
The Congress leader also criticised Vijayan, who has been vocal these days against the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, and asked the Left leader to look at this election as a national election, which it is.
He alleged that its ally in the INDIA Bloc, the CPI(M) was fighting this election in Kerala as if it is a state election. “And from a national point of view, who is better placed to fight the BJP and form a government in Delhi. Who is better placed to fight the BJP across India? It is obviously the Congress and not the CPI(M). CPI(M) is literally a single state party now,” Chidambaram said.
He appealed to the people to vote the INDIA bloc to power in Delhi.
Polling will be held on April 26 in Kerala for the Lok Sabha election, and the nationwide results will be declared on June 4.
The former Union Minister said that in the ten years of the UPA, projects worth Rs 50,414 crore were sanctioned for Kerala, and each district of the state received 5 to 6 projects which include 13 academic institutions, 10 central institutions, and 6 Defence Ministry projects.
He asked the BJP to reveal what the Modi government had given to Kerala.
Chidambaram claimed that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi came back to power, “democracy would die, the Constitution would be destroyed, freedom would be lost, and day to day life of people would become pathetic”. He also alleged that even the constitutional bodies in the country are controlled by the BJP and are not able to function independently. He said that even the judiciary was under a cloud and the freedom of the press in the country has been curbed. Chidambaram also said that 32 journalists were killed in the past ten years and even social media was being blocked.
He said that the Congress manifesto has schemes for liberating the country “destroyed” by ten years of the Modi regime. The Congress manifesto includes measures for taking the country to progress and uniting the citizens who were “divided” under PM Modi’s rule. He said that unemployment was the major issue faced by the country, and welfare, finance, and employment were the main focus of his party manifesto and that women, farmers, labourers and the marginalised would be taken care of.
Chidambaram also said that the Congress-led UDF would win all the 20 seats of Kerala.
Will bring law to operationalize ‘bail is the rule’
Former Union Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram said on Sunday that if the INDIA bloc comes to power at the Centre, it would enact a special law to bring into effect the legal principle established by the Supreme Court that “bail is the rule, and jail is the exception.”
“We are also promising to bring a special law that would say, ‘Bail is the rule, jail is the exception’. it was a great son of Kerala, Justice Krishna who emphasised this law,” Chidambaram said at a press conference held here.
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