Maharashtra follows Kerala and Punjab in anti-CAA row, mulls passing resolution against it

After Kerala and Punjab, the Maha Vikas Agadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra is also considering to move a resolution against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 in the state Assembly. Speaking to news agency ANI, Congress spokesperson Raju Waghmare said, "Our senior party leader Balasaheb Thorat has also shared his stand on the CAA. Even Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said that we are against the CAA. As far as the resolution against CAA is concerned, our senior leaders of MVA will sit together and decide."

Maharashtra to follow Kerala, Punjab's footsteps?

If this happens, then Maharashtra will be the third state to pass a resolution against CAA, which grants citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. The Kerala government earlier this week moved the Supreme Court against the CAA, seeking to declare it “violative of the principles of equality, freedom and secularism enshrined in the Constitution”. It was the first State government to challenge the Act and the Kerala Assembly was the first to pass a resolution against the law. Following in the southern state’s footsteps, the Punjab Assembly on Friday passed a resolution demanding to scrap the contentious law.

'The fight must go on!'

Meanwhile, emphasising that CAA is 'unconstitutional,' Senior Advocate and Congress leader Kapil Sibal said that every state Assembly has the constitutional right to pass a resolution and seek CAA's withdrawal. He added that it would be problematic to oppose the CAA if the law is declared to be 'constitutional' by the Supreme Court.

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Earlier speaking at the Kerala Literature Festival on Saturday, the Congress leader had said that constitutionally no state can say that it will not implement the amended Citizenship Act, as doing so will be "unconstitutional". Kerala government has also approached the Supreme Court against the CAA following the passage of a resolution against it in the state Assembly. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has also announced that the Congress state government is going to join Kerala in the Supreme Court in the case.

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(Image credits: PTI)