Jagan joins chorus against NRC; ‘BJP leaders not in sync’

NEWDELHI/HYDERABAD: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that National Register of Citizens (NRC) has not been discussed in Parliament, a section of the Opposition leaders said both President Ram Nath Kovind, while presenting the government’s objectives in his opening address to both Houses in June, and home minister Amit Shah, during a debate on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in the Rajya Sabha, had mentioned it On Monday, YSR Congress Party leader and Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said his state would not implement NRC, and Hemant Soren of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), who is set to be the head of a coalition government in Jharkhand, said that while he would have to examine the provisions before taking a position on NRC, he found the idea problematic at first glance

“We are strongly opposed to NRC Under any circumstances, we shall not allow its implementation in Andhra Pradesh We shall also oppose its implementation elsewhere in the country,” Jagan said, addressing a gathering after inaugurating several medical facilities in Kadapa district Soren said, “We have not even received the notification of this [NRC] Only once we have figured out the human cost of such a policy will we be able to take a call on such an issue”

Excluding Jagan and Soren, the chief ministers of at least seven Indian states have thus far said they will not implement a nationwide NRC They are Amarinder Singh of Punjab, Nitish

Kumar of Bihar, Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan, Kamal Nath of Madhya Pradesh, Naveen Patnaik of Odisha, Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, and Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala To be sure, there has been no official diktat on a nationwide NRC, although PM Modi himself [during the election campaign], Shah, and several other ministers have spoken of it, some more than once Kovind himself referred to an NRC in states affected by infiltration of outsiders

On Monday, the CMS of the Congress-ruled heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh repeated their resolve of not implementing NRC and opposed the newly amended citizenship act (CAA), while taking part in a rally held at Rajghat, the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi in New Delhi

At the same event, Congress minister Balasaheb Thorat from Maharashtra, where his party runs an alliance government along with the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), opposed NRC and CAA, and stressed that the western state was not in favour of either There was no immediate reaction from the Sena on this

The issue of citizenship has roiled the country ever since Parliament approved CAA on December 11, sparking violent protests that have killed at least 24 people

While the law just fast-tracks citizenship for non-muslim minorities from three of India’s Muslim-majority neighbours, protests against it have been driven by three factors: a fear in the North-east that it could result in an influx of outsiders; concerns that the law is exclusionary and goes against the secular nature of India’s Constitution; and fears that combined with a national NRC, it could result in the expulsion or detention of Muslims unable to provide the documentation required

To address these fears, the home ministry has said that the rules for a national NRC haven’t been framed, and on Sunday, PM Modi seemed to suggest that the concept of a national NRC itself hasn’t even been discussed NRC, held in Assam on the orders of the Supreme Court, was an exercise to identify illegal immigrants in the north-eastern state The final NRC list announced on August 31 did not have the names of over 19 million people and included lakhs of Hindus

NCP leader Sharad Pawar and Left leaders questioned Modi’s speech in Delhi’s Ramlila grounds where he kick-started the BJP’S election campaign in the city-state on Sunday

Modi sought to use the forum to allay apprehensions over NRC and CAA, especially among Muslims, and accused his political rivals of stoking violence “Several rumours have been floating around about NRC It was first implemented in Assam after an order from the Supreme Court No rules for the NRC have been framed; it has not been introduced in Parliament Then why are such narratives being built around it?” he said He added that his government has never discussed the issue, neither in Parliament nor in the Cabinet, since coming to power in 2014

At a press conference in Mumbai, Pawar said he was surprised at the PM’S comment that his government never discussed a nationwide NRC He spoke of Kovind’s mention of the NRC across the country in his joint address to Parliament Even home minister Amit Shah spoke on this issue in Parliament, Pawar said “When a major policy is brought, a discussion takes place at the government level Such a policy will not come before the country without that,” Pawar said

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala reiterated that, contrary to Modi’s claim, Shah said NRC will be implemented across the country “How much will you befool the country?” Surjewala asked

Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja put forth a similar argument “The BJP’S 2019 election manifesto promised NRC all over the country,” a statement from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said

Later in the day, an anti-nrc chorus rang out from Rajghat, where top Congress leaders, including party president Sonia Gandhi, gathered for an event expressing solidarity with the youth and students protesting against CAA and NRC

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath and Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said their governments will not implement the new citizenship law in their states

“The Prime Minister is misleading people over the NRC, saying it was not discussed, while the home minister is saying that the NRC will be implemented The country understands that they want to divide it on religious lines,” Gehlot said, accusing the government of creating an atmosphere of fear

Chhattisgarh minister TS Singh Deo, on behalf of chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, reiterated that CAA and NRC will not be implemented in his state

Also on Monday, Bengal CM Banerjee wrote to chief ministers and senior leaders belonging to opposition parties, urging to them to unite and chalk out a plan to “save the country” She described the situation arising out of protests in the country against CAA and the proposed NRC as “serious”, and urged all the non-bjp parties to come together and rise against the

“draconian regime” of the central government

The BJP said a nationwide NRC will be implemented only after “detailed discussions” At a press conference in Jaipur, party national vice-president and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan alleged that the Congress was trying to create confusion among people over CAA and NRC

“Discussions about the NRC are going on and suggestions have been sought but confusion is being created NRC will also be implemented but after detailed discussions,” he said

“Chief ministers of Rajasthan, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh are saying that CAA will not be implemented, but citizenship is a subject of the Union List It has become a law through a constitutional process and passed by the Parliament,” Chouhan said

“They [CMS] are holding constitutional posts How can they deny its execution? If they do not implement it, then there are other ways too for getting this done,” he added