Bihar Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution to not implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state. The House also passed a resolution to implement the National Population Register (NPR) in its 2010 form, with an amendment. Speaking on NPR, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar informed the state assembly that his government has written to the Centre seeking deletion of ‘Contentious Clauses’ from the NPR forms.
Nitish Kumar has been saying the NRC won’t be implemented in Bihar as it has no justification. He, however, is ready to go ahead with NPR with some changes such as the removal of questions related to the birthplace of parents. This Sunday, the chief minister again reiterated that NRC would not be implemented and only NPR would be updated the way it was done in 2010.
Bihar assembly passes resolution to not implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state. The assembly also passed a resolution to implement the National Population Register (NPR) in its 2010 form, with an amendment. pic.twitter.com/OQMiHFbZBB
Also Read— ANI (@ANI) February 25, 2020
The whole debate around NRC started last year after Home Minister Amit Shah in the run-up to general election said that NRC would be implemented across the country. However, opposition to NRC intensified after the central government passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The opposition parties alleged that the Centre was moving in a direction that could be discriminatory against Muslims.
Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) too had supported CAA in Parliament and for this, it came under fire from its own top leaders like Pavan Verma and Prashant Kishor. Verma and Kishor alleged that CAA would be discriminatory against the Muslims if combined with the NRC. JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar stuck to his decision to support CAA and clarified that his party will not allow NRC in Bihar.
While CAA is already in effect, the discussion on NRC is yet to begin. Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah have also clarified that the was no proposal yet for nationwide NRC.
