Kerala CM writes to 11 non-BJP states to stand united against CAA

New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram/Amritsar: Days after the Kerala Assembly passed a resolution demanding that the controversial CAA be scrapped, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday wrote to 11 non-BJP ruled states urging them to take a similar stance against the law while pitching for unity to protect democracy and secularism of the nation.

The Kerala Assembly had on Tuesday passed the resolution — supported by ruling CPI(M)-led LDF and opposition Congress headed UDF — demanding the repeal of the CAA. Bengal was the first state which had demanded that the contentious law be revoked and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had also stalled the exercise of NPR soon after the law was passed in Parliament, stating that it was unconstitutional.

Vijayan, who has also been strident in his opposition to the CAA, wrote to Chief Ministers of 11 states, including Bihar's Nitish Kumar, an ally of BJP, saying there was a need to stand united in preserving the country's democracy and secularism. "The need of the hour is unity among all Indians who wish to protect and preserve our cherished values of democracy and secularism," he said.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday also came out in support of the Kerala Assembly resolution demanding to scrap the CAA, saying it was the voice of the people and the Centre should also pay heed to it.

In an open letter to Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Punjab Chief Minister asserted that the states have already taken necessary legal advice on the matter and termed the Kerala Assembly's resolution on the amended citizenship law the "voice of the people" as spoken through their elected representatives, and urged the Centre to pay heed to the same.

With agency inputs