The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] is learnt to have mooted the idea of constituting a Constitution Protection Council to spearhead the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) agitations.
The proposal is learnt to have been tossed up for discussion at the CPI(M) State secretariat meeting on Friday. The idea came up for discussion when Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called for an all-party meeting on Sunday morning to discuss the future course of action on CAA. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is gearing up for the formation of a human chain on January 26 to mark the culmination of the anti-CAA campaign.
The proposed Constitution Protection Council would be in the same format as the council formed by the Government earlier for conserving renaissance values. Mr. Vijayan is likely to put forward the idea for floating the new council at the all-party meeting on Sunday.
The CPI(M) had all parties, including allies of the United Democratic Front (UDF), to be part of the human chain. This was reported to be on the basis of the response it received from the regional leaders of certain UDF allies to the call to join the human chain, sources said.
Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader M.K. Muneer had categorically said on Friday that the party would not join the human chain. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) vice president Kodikunnil Suresh described the proposal to form the new council as another ploy of the CPI(M).
Mr. Vijayan and the LDF alone cannot aspire to protect the Constitution. This was a political move with an eye on the minority votebank, he said in a statement here.
