Thiruvananthapuram: A meeting of various political parties, convened by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here on Sunday, decided to hold joint protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The meeting, attended by MLAs, MPs, leaders of major political fronts and other representatives, entrusted the Chief Minister and leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, with the task of holding discussions and deciding upon the further course of action on the matter.
Two BJP leaders who took arrived for the meeting boycotted the session after Chief Minister dismissed the Congress-led UDF's demand for a special assembly session to express the state's concern on the implementation of CAA.
A joint protest, held by the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF and opposition Congress-headed UDF, against the Act held on December 16, had caught the national attention as arch political rivals shed their ideological differences and joined hands for a common cause.
After Sunday's meeting, Chennithala told reporters that different kinds of joint protests would be held in the state against the CAA.
"Our major demand in the meeting was to convene a special assembly session to express the state's concern over CAA.
We also wanted to send an all-party delegation to meet the President and convey the concerns," the Opposition leader said divulging the details of the discussions.
Chennithala has also convened a meeting of Muslim outfits on Sunday evening to address the fear and concerns of the community.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders, M S Kumar and J R Padmakumar, told reporters that they boycotted the meeting as it was "illegal," "undemocratic" and "unconstitutional".
"The state government has no right to convene a meeting against an Act, passed by both Houses of the Parliament.
They also cannot organise protests and agitations by spending money from the state exchequer," Padmakumar said.
(With inputs from PTI)
