National Register of Citizens will not be implemented in Bihar: Nitish Kumar

PATNA: In a big setback to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will not be implemented in his state. Clearing his party's stand on the issue, Kumar, who is also the national president of Janata Dal-United, said that the controversial NRC will not be implemented in the state at all. 

This is probably for the first time ever that a major ally of the NDA has voiced its dissent over the Narendra Modi government’s controversial citizenship law. 

Earlier on December 14, during a meeting with close confidant Prashant Kishore, Nitish Kumar had reportedly assured him of taking a stand against the Modi government on this issue.

Kishore has been tweeting against the Citizenship Act and the NRC consistently. On Thursday, Kishore had tweeted against the NRC. “The argument that no nationwide #NRC has been ANNOUNCED is not convincing as it is not the SAME as clearly stating that there will be No #NRC,” he had said on the micro-blogging site.

The Bihar Chief Minister has been facing criticism over his support to the amended citizenship law. On Thursday, he "guaranteed" that minorities will not get a raw deal "as long as we are around". 

"Just look at the efforts we made for the uplift of the minorities. Those who were in power earlier are engaged in inciting people. They should tell us what the minorities got during their reign," Kumar said at a public meeting here during his 'Jal Jeevan Hariyali' Yatra.

"There are people who are engaged in the business of whipping up passions. But we believe in serving all and taking every social segment along. And we guarantee that as long as we are around, the minorities will not get a raw deal," the Chief Minister said.