Palakkad (Kerala), April 17 (IANS): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday again attacked Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), asking why is he and his party silent over the issue.

“Why is Congress, especially Rahul Gandhi silent over CAA? Congress should admit that they are on the same page with Sangh Parivar over CAA,” Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said while addressing a mammoth election rally in Palakkad.

He said that people and different organisations all over the world are critical of the controversial CAA but surprisingly Congress is silent on such a pressing issue.

“When we pointed out that Rahul Gandhi did not take up the CAA issue during his nationwide yatra and nor in Wayanad, they (Congress) started attacking us,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that the CAA was announced when the country was in the election mode.

“There is no also mention of the CAA in the Congress manifesto. When we asked about it, Leader of the Opposition (LoP) V. D. Satheesan said it’s there in the manifesto but despite our best efforts, we were unable to find it. Ironically, Congress-led UDF Convener said that they are not bothered about CAA,” the Chief Minister said Vijayan.

He said that his government has decided that they will not implement the CAA in the coastal state. “We have also approached the apex court against the CAA,” he said.

“When the CAA issue was raised in the parliament there were 18 MPs from Congress-led UDF. Why did they not speak against it,” the Chief Minister asked.

There are around 3.30 crore Muslims in Kerala which roughly constitute 24 per cent population of the state.