No justification for nationwide NRC, says Nitish Kumar

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday clarified that NRC will not be implemented in the state.

“There is no question of implementing NRC in Bihar. The exercise was confined to Assam as part of the accord signed by Rajiv Gandhi government. I don’t think there is any need to implement NRC anywhere else in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also clarified about the issue,” said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Nitish Kumar has been facing flak from the Opposition in Bihar for extending support to Citizenship Act in the Parliament. While speaking on the issue, he said that he was also willing to have a debate on various issues including CAA in the Assembly.

Sources said that questions were also raised because most of his party leaders spoke openly about the issue but Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had been silent.
His remarks on the issue of NRC may cause unease among few BJP leaders who have been urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah to implement the exercise in other parts of the country including Bihar.

He made these statements during the special session of the Assembly which was convened on Monday to ratify the Constitution amendment bill which proposes to extend SC/ST quota in Parliament and state Assembly for another ten years.

During his speech, he also emphasised the need for the caste-based census in the country. He said, “caste-based census has not been done since 1930. Demand regarding the issue was also raised in 2010 but data collected were never released”.

JD(U) which supported the new citizenship law in the Parliament has been worried after political leaders including several from his party opposed the CAA and NRC. Two prominent JD(U) leaders Prashant Kishor and Pavan Verma have been urging the Chief Minister not to implement the exercise in Bihar.