BJP's stance change on NRC a tactical retreat: Prashant Kishor
Patna,: JD(U) national vice president Prashant Kishor on Thursday scoffed at the Centre's refrain that there have been no deliberations so far on a country-wide National Register for Citizens, calling it a "tactical retreat".
The poll-strategist-turned politician, whose party is an alliance partner of the BJP, asserted that the change in stance was prompted by country-wide agitations against the new citizenship law and the proposed NRC.
"The claim of abhi to NRC ki koi charcha hi nahin hui hai is nothing but a tactical retreat in the face of nationwide protest against #CAA_NRC. It is a pause and not the full stop. Govt could wait till SC judgement on CAA. A favourable court order and the whole process will be back," Kishor tweeted.
Speculation that CAA will be followed by NRC had intensified in the wake of Union Home Minister Amit Shahs remark during a debate on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament that "NRC aane wala hai" (NRC is on the way).
Kishor, who had disapproved of his party voting in favor of the Bill, has been emphatic that the Act, which seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from adjoining Islamic countries, could spell trouble in combination with the NRC.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is also the JD(U) president, faced with a possible diminution of his popularity among Muslims as a result of his party voting in favor of the Bill, last week asserted that NRC will not be implemented in the state, the first NDA CM to say so.
Kishor, on his part, has been demanding an "official announcement" from Congress president Sonia Gandhi that NRC will not be implemented in the states ruled by her party, holding that statements to the effect from respective chief ministers would not suffice.
Meanwhile, BJP leaders have been at pains to explain that anxiety over the NRC was premature after Prime Minister Narendra Modi wondered at a rally in New Delhi on Sunday as to why people were taking to the streets against a measure that was yet to be taken up for discussion in Parliament or the Union cabinet.
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BJP using women's quota bill as front to pass Delimitation Bill that will break India: Mamata
Cooch Behar (WB) (PTI): Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday alleged the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre was using the proposed amendment to the women's quota law in Parliament as a front for the Delimitation Bill that would "break the country into pieces".
The TMC will fight this Central government's move at every step, she asserted at her party's poll rally here.
The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to tweak the women's quota law, along with the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, to implement the proposed amended women's quota law, in the Union territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir, were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
According to the Constitution amendment bill, Lok Sabha seats will be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats will also be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
Opposing the Centre's move, Banerjee alleged that "the BJP brought the Delimitation Bill while keeping the women's reservation bill at the front".
"The BJP is trying to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha to nearly 850 through the Delimitation Bill. It will break the country into pieces," the TMC supremo said.
She also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not speaking the truth about the development of north Bengal at a BJP rally last week.
"The prime minister said nothing was done for the development of north Bengal. But we spent Rs 1.72 lakh crore on the development of the region," Banerjee said and asked Modi to cross-check data before making such remarks.
