In more trouble for the Narendra Modi Government, its two allies from Bihar have indicated they would oppose the National Register for Citizens (NRC), leaving the BJP completely isolated on this issue.
First it was Janata Dal (U) president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who asserted that the NRC will not be implemented in the State.
Kumar made this clear in a terse reply to queries from journalists who had sought his response on the proposed country-wide implementation of the NRC, including Bihar, as stated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the floor of Parliament.
“Kaahe ka NRC? Bilkul laagu nahin hoga (NRC what for? Will not at all be implemented),” Kumar quipped.
Another NDA ally, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), also indicated its opposition to the NRC and sought to distance itself from the Government over the citizenship law, asserting that nationwide protests show that the Centre has “failed” to dispel confusion among a significant section of society.
LJP chief Chirag Paswan, whose party had backed the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Parliament, noted that the protests are happening in various parts of the country with people linking the NRC with the amended citizenship law.
“This has made it clear that the Government has failed to dispel confusion in a significant section of people of the country,” he tweeted.
“Disaffection against the law continues in the country despite the Bill’s passage by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The LJP had urged the Government for deliberations among allies precisely to ensure that such a situation does not arise,” he said.
In his tweets, Paswan assured Muslims and Dalits besides other “deprived” sections of society that his party will pay full attention to their concerns over the NRC.”The LJP will not support any Bill that is not in the interest of the common man,” he said.
With this the opposition to the NRC by non-BJP rules States is growing. Already Governments of West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Kerela have said they would not implement the NRC in their States. All Congress ruled States have also announced their opposition to its implementation in their States.