INDIA bloc will come to power, nullify CAA, says Chidambaram

Thiruvananthapuram, April 21: Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram on Sunday expressed confidence that the INDIA bloc will come to power in the country after the general elections, and would scrap the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the first meeting of the new parliament itself.

Participating at a meet the press programme organised by the Congress' Kerala unit at the state headquarters here ahead of polling in the state on April 26 in the second phase, he said after the first round of polling, the picture of the INDIA bloc coming to power is clear.

Chidambaram said that even after clear evidence of senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor participating in anti-CAA protests, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the CPI-M were trying to mislead the people of the state on the issue. He said that the CPI-M, which was criticising Rahul Gandhi, could not come to power and asked the people why they were wasting their votes on the Left candidates.

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.