‘National parties should unite against BJP’s moves to dilute Constitution’

CAA, NPR and NRC are attempts in that direction, says TNCC chief

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.S. Alagiri. File

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.S. Alagiri on Saturday said national parties and others who fought for the country’s freedom should unite against the BJP which, he said, was trying to dilute the Constitution.

Addressing a meeting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register, Mr. Alagiri said,

“Bharatiya Janata Party is a party which was formed out of an organisation which had no role in the Indian freedom struggle. Today, they are trying to wreck the Constitution. The Constitution says that anyone who was born and are living in India are Indians. But the BJP is trying to amend it, and CAA, NPR and NRC are attempts in that direction.”

I-T searches

Regarding the recent Income Tax searches at actor Vijay’s residence, Mr. Alagiri said the tax sleuths had different yardsticks for Vijay and fellow film star Rajinikanth.

Mr. Alagiri said Mr. Vijay had requested the tax officers to carry out the searches another day, but the tax sleuths treated him like a detainee and conducted the searches. But in a case involving Mr. Rajinikanth, the I-T officials informed the court that they would not file an appeal in higher courts if the actor paid a penalty of ₹66 lakh. “Rajinikanth recently said that CAA was not against Muslims. He had read out a statement issued by the BJP, and maybe that’s why he was granted that concession,” Mr. Alagiri alleged.

The Congress leader said that if Mr. Vijay is firm in his stand, the party will support him.