Centre’s claim of no discussion over pan-India NRC is a tactical retreat, says Prashant Kishor.

NewDelhi: Continuing his tirade against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), JD(U) vice-president Prashant Kishor on Thursday (December 26) that the Centre’s claim that no discussion has been held over the implementation of NRC at national level is nothing but a tactical retreat by the Centre due to the massive protest against the CAA nad NRC. Kishor, who is a well-known political strategist, added that the Centre’s stand is a pause and it should not be seen as a full stop.

Kishor noted that the Centre could wait till Supreme Court’s verdict on CAA and if the apex court passes an order backing the CAA then the Centre will surely move ahead with its plan to implement nationwide NRC.

“The claim of “अभी तो NRC की कोई चर्चा ही नहीं हुई है” 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,” tweeted Kishor.

On Tuesday (December 24), Kishor had thanked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for protesting against the CAA and NRC at Delhi’s Raj Ghat. Kishor, however, advised Rahul Gandhi to get in touch with Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states and ask them openly declare that NRC will not be implemented in their states.

“Thanks, Rahul Gandhi for joining citizens’ movement against CAA and NRC. But as you know beyond public protests we also need states to say no to NRC to stop it. We hope you will impress upon the Congress to OFFICIALLY announce that there will be No NRC in the Congress-ruled states,” Kishor had tweeted.

The JD(U) vice-president also asked Rahul Gandhi to share the official statement of interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi announcing that NRC will not be implemented in Congress-ruled states. Kishor said that though the Congress and other opposition parties voted against Citizenship Amendment Bill in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the Centre managed to pass it through both the Houses of Parliament but the states can stop the implementation of NRC by saying no to it.

The CAA seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh taking shelter in India on or before 31 December 2014 due to religious persecution there.