Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday said the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will be repealed in the first session of Parliament after the INDIA Bloc forms the government at the Centre.

Chidambaram said the intention of the Congress party is to repeal the CAA even though it is not mentioned in its manifesto. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the CPI(M) has been constantly lashing out at the Congress saying its manifesto fails to mention the CAA.

Talking to the media here, Chidambaram claimed it was not mentioned in the manifesto “because it became too long”. The former union minister said the 10-year-rule of the BJP has caused tremendous damage to the country as it misused the “brute majority” in Parliament. “There is a long list of laws among which five laws will be absolutely repealed. Take it from me, I am the chairman of the manifesto committee. I wrote every word of it, I know what the intention was. The CAA will be repealed, not amended. We have made it clear,” Chidambaram said.

The CAA will be repealed in the first session of Parliament in which the INDIA Bloc forms the government, he added. Dismissing the claims of Vijayan that the Congress has not opposed the Law, Chidambaram said Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has spoken against the CAA in Parliament.

When asked whether the Ayodhya Ram temple inauguration will have any impact on the elections, Chidambaram said he hopes not. “Ayodhya now has a temple. We are happy. People wanted the temple and a temple has come up. That should be the end of the story. Why should a temple in Ayodhya play a role in politics or in elections and on who should rule the country. It should have no role at all,” Chidambaram said.

On the issue of national border security, the senior Congress leader alleged that the BJP government was hiding the truth from the people of the country that “thousands of square kilometres of Indian land was occupied by Chinese troops”. “That’s a fact testified by the MP from Ladakh. The fact testified by the Arunachal Pradesh citizens. Therefore, to say that they have secured our borders is a complete lie,” Chidambaram said.

He also lashed out at the BJP-led NDA government and said the saffron party is no longer a political party but has become a cult that worships Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Targeting the Modi government, Chidambaram said there is a “grave erosion” of freedom of speech and expression that happened in the 10 years of Modi rule, and urged the people to “restore democracy”.

“The BJP constituted the manifesto in 14 days which is not titled manifesto. They called it Modi’s guarantee. The BJP is no longer a political party. It has become a cult and the cult worships Narendra Modi,” Chidambaram said.

He claimed that “Modi ki guarantee” reminds everyone of the countries where there is cult worship. “That cult worship in India has started gaining strength and will lead to dictatorship,” he said. He alleged that there has been gross censorship of the freedom of expression under the 10-year Modi rule.

“If Modi is voted back to power for a third time, he may amend the constitution… We have to restore democracy,” Chidambaram said. The Congress leader also criticised Vijayan, who has been vocal these days against the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, and asked the Left leader to look at this election as a national election, which it is.

He alleged that its ally in the INDIA Bloc, the CPI(M) was fighting this election in Kerala as if it is a state election. “And from a national point of view, who is better placed to fight the BJP and form a government in Delhi. Who is better placed to fight the BJP across India? It is obviously the Congress and not the CPI(M). CPI(M) is literally a single state party now,” Chidambaram said. He appealed to the people to vote the INDIA bloc to power in Delhi.  “I am not sure if I can hold a press conference like this if Mr Modi is elected for a third time. I am not sure whether you will be free to ask any questions to BJP leaders then,” he added. Polling will be held on April 26 in Kerala for the Lok Sabha election, and the nationwide results will be declared on June 4