Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at LDF-UDF joint protest: The present atmosphere has been created by BJP-RSS… https://t.co/7IQf5mOum2 — ANI (@ANI) 1576472276000

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala is witnessing a rare protest against Citizenship Amendment Act, as both the ruling and opposition parties and various religious and cultural organisations have come together to stage a dharna in the state capital here on Monday.The LDF, UDF religious and cultural leaders, are leading the protest at the Martyrs' column at Palayam, where hundreds of people including students have thronged to express their strong sentiments against CAA.Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan , while addressing the huge gathering, said Kerala was creating a model for the entire nation on how to safeguard India's secularism and it's Constitution. "The people in Kerala declares complete solidarity with the ongoing protests across the country," he said.The CM said efforts to implement CAa and NRC were a continuation of the RSS agenda of transforming India into a religion-based country. "An explosive situation prevails in the country, which was created deliberately by the Centre which is implementing the RSS agenda. Efforts are on to nullify the freedom the country earned through long struggles," he said.Expressing strong sentiments against the 'dark era' the country is going through, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said an atmosphere of fear has gripped the country. "The voice of people and media is being suppressed by the government. The state will not accept anything which destroy our democratic and Constitutional values," he said.Both the chief minister and the opposition leader began their satyagraha by laying a wreath at the Martyr’s Column. The chief minister is joined by his cabinet colleagues Kadakampally Surendran, A K Balan, K T Jaleel, K K Shailaja, J Mercykutty, V S Sunilkumar, E Chandrashekaran, Kadanappally Ramachandran, E P Jayarajan, and A K Saseendran.The opposition leader is joined by UDF MLAs V S Sivakumar, K C Joseph, Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan, K S Sabarinathan and other party leaders. The leaders from both the LDF and UDF are taking part in the satyagraha which will conclude at 1 pm.