Palaniswami Expands on ‘Scrap CAA’ Poll Promise, May Irk BJP

Day after promising Tamil Nadu to convince Centre to scrap the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act, chief minister Edappadi Karuppa Palaniswami claimed that his is the only government that can protect minorities.

“AIADMK is the only government that can protect minorities. AIADMK has promised that we will ask the Centre to withdraw CAA. Minorities had given us such an appeal. So we will send that appeal to Center and urge them to take the law back,” he said.

The party released a populist manifesto for the April 6 Assembly polls on Sunday, promising, among others, houses free of cost to people, Rs 7,500 annual subsidy to farmers, free solar cooking stoves and washing machines. Educational loan waiver, government jobs to families without anyone in state service and many more sops were announced. Among these promises is the one on CAA, which is likely to cause heartburn to ally BJP.

On December 11, 2019, Parliament passed the controversial Act, giving undocumented migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to apply for Indian citizenship. The list however did not include Muslims, sparking off nationwide protests, one of the largest in the history of independent India.

Rival DMK chief MK Stalin too on Sunday said his party would continue to urge the Union government to scrap the Citizenship Amendment Act and confer citizenship on Sri Lankan Tamils living in refugee camps in India.

BJP general secretary CT Ravi, however, said there was no question of scrapping the CAA, despite who was opposing the contentious law.