BJP leaders rubbish Prashant Kishor’s CAA claim

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday reacted strongly to JD(U) leader Prashant Kishor’s tweet in which he had declared that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) won’t be implemented in Bihar.

Taking a tough stand on the issue, BJP leaders in Patna said that his statement was “baseless and misleading”. Mr Kishor in a tweet had congratulated Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for rejecting CAA and NRC and claimed that the contentious act won’t be implemented in Bihar.

“I join my voice with all to thank the Congress leadership for their formal and unequivocal rejection of CAA and NRC. Both Rahul and Priyanka deserve special thanks for their efforts on this count. Also would like to reassure to all that CAA-NRC won’t be implemented in Bihar,” the JD(U) vice-president said in a tweet on Sunday.

Mr Kishor’s tweet came a day after Congress President Sonia Gandhi issued a statement calling CAA-NRC “discriminatory and divisive”.

Both JD(U) and BJP leaders feel that Prashant Kishor opposing the CAA-NRC may harm the NDA during the assembly polls, which is scheduled to be held by the end of this year.

Mr Kishor was the first JD(U) leader to oppose his own party for supporting Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in parliament last month.

While expressing strong resentment after the bill was passed in both the houses of parliament, he had urged Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar not to implement the act in Bihar”.

The BJP in the state also reacted sharply and called his statement misleading.

Stepping up attack against Mr Kishor for supporting the Congress and declaring that CAA won’t be implemented in Bihar, BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand said, “Some people are creating propaganda on NRC. The fact is that there is no initiative by the Central Government on the issue. We appreciate NDA allies like chief minister Nitish Kumar for supporting the bill in Parliament. The CAA wi-ll be implemented in all states, including Bihar. The NPR work in Bihar will begin in May 2020.”

Questions were also raised as the Centre had issued a gazette notification on Friday announcing that the Act had come into effect from January 10, 2020.

On Sunday after he congratulated Congress party for calling the CAA “discriminatory and divisive”, a section in the JD(U) said that Prashant Kishor taking a different line may harm the party during the assembly polls.