Congress' Big CAA Announcement Amid Criticism By Pinarayi Vijayan

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday said the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will be repealed in the first session of Parliament after the INDIA Bloc forms the government at the Centre.

Mr Chidambaram said the intention of the Congress party is to repeal the CAA even though it is not mentioned in its manifesto.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the CPI(M) has been constantly lashing out at the Congress saying its manifesto fails to mention the CAA.

Talking to the media, P Chidambaram claimed it was not mentioned in the manifesto "because it became too long".

The former union minister said the 10-year-rule of the BJP has caused tremendous damage to the country as it misused the "brute majority" in Parliament.

"There is a long list of laws among which five laws will be absolutely repealed. Take it from me, I am the chairman of the manifesto committee. I wrote every word of it, I know what the intention was. The CAA will be repealed, not amended. We have made it clear," Mr Chidambaram said.

The CAA will be repealed in the first session of Parliament in which the INDIA Bloc forms the government, he added.

Dismissing the claims of Mr Vijayan that the Congress has not opposed the Law, Mr Chidambaram said Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has spoken against the CAA in Parliament.

When asked whether the Ayodhya Ram temple inauguration will have any impact on the elections, Mr Chidambaram said he hopes not.

"Ayodhya now has a temple. We are happy. People wanted the temple and a temple has come up. That should be the end of the story. Why should a temple in Ayodhya play a role in politics or in elections and on who should rule the country. It should have no role at all," Mr Chidambaram said.

The Congress leader also criticised Mr Vijayan, who has been vocal these days against the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, and asked the Left leader to look at this election as a national election, which it is.

He alleged that its ally in the INDIA Bloc, the CPI(M) was fighting this election in Kerala as if it is a state election.

"And from a national point of view, who is better placed to fight the BJP and form a government in Delhi. Who is better placed to fight the BJP across India? It is obviously the Congress and not the CPI(M). CPI(M) is literally a single state party now," Mr Chidambaram said.

He appealed to the people to vote the INDIA bloc to power in Delhi.

Polling will be held on April 26 in Kerala for the Lok Sabha election, and the nationwide results will be declared on June 4.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)