RAIPUR: The Bhupesh Baghel cabinet on Thursday passed a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and urged the Centre to withdraw it.
The Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh is set to become the fifth state to pass a resolution against the Act during the state Assembly budget session, scheduled to begin next month.
Two other Congress-ruled states -- Rajasthan and Punjab -- besides Kerala and West Bengal have already adopted similar resolutions against the controversial Act citing it as “discriminatory”.
The CM has also written a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him on behalf of the people of the state to withdraw the CAA, calling it “discriminatory on the basis of religion even as the Act appears to be against Article 14 of the Indian Constitution”.
The Chhattisgarh CM cited the lack of provisions in the Act regarding refugees who might come from other neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.
Baghel has been critical of the CAA and was among the first chief ministers to declare that the CAA and NRC would not be implemented in the state.
In his letter to the PM, Bhaghel wrote: “Chhattisgarh is witnessing massive peaceful protests against the Act by different sections of the society. Chhattisgarh originally has inhabitants belonging to scheduled tribes, scheduled caste, OBCs. And a huge chunk of the state’s population live below the poverty line, are landless and illiterate. They might surely face difficulties to accomplish the formalities as required by the Act. The CAA apparently erodes the constitution’s fundamental structure on secularism".
In a briefing following the cabinet meet, senior state minister Ravindra Choubey said, “The state cabinet has passed the resolution against CAA and we are going to do it in the Assembly too. This Act is against the sentiments of the people of Chhattisgarh and the CM on behalf of them has urged the PM to take it back”.