Kerala Assembly's resolution on withdrawal of CAA unconstitutional, will cause anarchy: BJP

BJP leader Gopal Krishna Agarwal on Wednesday said that Kerala Assembly's passing of a resolution seeking withdrawal of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is wrong and unconstitutional and it will give rise to anarchy.

"This is absolutely wrong and unconstitutional. The parliament has legally passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill and made it into an act after presidential assent. After that, a state assembly cannot pass a resolution on the act. It will give rise to anarchy. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should take care that the constitution is the supreme law," Agarwal told ANI.

Earlier yesterday, after the Kerala Assembly passed the resolution regarding CAA, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that no state legislature has the power to pass any law with regard to citizenship.

"Citizenship, naturalisation and aliens are entry 17 on the Union list. Therefore, it is only the Parliament that has the power to pass any law with regards to citizenship, not any Assembly, including Kerala," Prasad had said at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram.

Taking a jibe at Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Prasad said, "The constitution has a mandate -- Parliament - List 1, State Assemblies - List 2. I would again urge the Chief Minister to kindly have better legal advice."

The Kerala Assembly on Tuesday had passed a resolution seeking withdrawal of the CAA.

Before the resolution was passed against the Act, Vijayan, in a special Assembly session, targeted the RSS and said that citizenship law is part of an agenda.

"The CAA is part of an agenda. Muslims are being considered as internal enemies by RSS, that is controlling the ruling dispensation at the Centre," the Chief Minister alleged.