NRC will not be implemented in Bihar: Nitish Kumar

Despite JD (U)’s support to the Citizenship Amendment Act, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday asserted that National Register for Citizens will not be implemented in the state.

Nitish Kumar made this statement to journalists who had sought his response on the proposed country-wide implementation of NRC, including Bihar, as stated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the floor of the Parliament.

“Kaahe ka NRC? Bilkul laagu nahin hoga” (NRC, what for? Will not at all be implemented), Kumar replied while he was exiting after addressing the 80th annual session of Indian Road Congress.

Nitish Kumar, who is heading a coalition government with the BJP in Bihar, becomes the first chief minister from the NDA camp to have voiced his disapproval of the proposed move to have an all India NRC which has triggered country-wide tension and protests.

In the recent past, besides the Congress-ruled states, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her counterparts in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, Naveen Patnaik and Jaganmohan Reddy respectively have spoken out against the proposed move. These parties opposed the move as they view it as a means by BJP to polarize voters by triggering fears of disenfranchisement of Muslims.

Kumar, on his part, has been opposed to the NRC since the days when it was implemented only in Assam upon a Supreme Court order.

The Chief Minister came out with his assertion on NRC a day after he had made it clear at a public meeting in Gaya that he would “guarantee” that under his watch the minorities were not treated unfairly.