Congress Leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda Says States Can't Stall CAA

After Congress leader Kapil Sibal pointed out on Saturday that blocking the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is unconstitutional, former Haryana chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda remarked that the Act cannot be stalled since it was already passed by the Parliament. The Congress leader observed that states cannot and should not block the Act. That is the constitutional view. Hooda added however, that CAA should be subject to legal scrutiny.

Kapil Sibal after his initial statement that it would not be possible to block the Act, later clarified that states have a constitutional right to pass a resolution in their assemblies. He also stated that he had asserted that the CAA should be thrown in the Arabian Sea. In his Sunday morning tweet, the Congress leader added that "the fight must go on!"

Former Union minister Salman Khurshid also said that CAA was now in the statute books and was therefore a law. However, he cautioned against arriving at any final conclusion till the Supreme Court delivers its pronouncement on the issue.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh endorsed Sibal's statement made at the Kerala Literary Festival that for states to block the CAA would be problematic. He added that it was now up to the Parliament to amend the Act.

After Kerala and Punjab state assemblies passed resolutions against the CAA and sought its withdrawal, other Congress-ruled and non-BJP states are set to follow suit. The Centre-states face-off is likely to continue till the Supreme Court delivers its verdict on the constitutionality of the act, and put to rest the legal objections raised by states.

However, it remains to be seen how the political controversy surrounding the act will play out in the weeks to come.