After stating that no resolution will be brought against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government has clarified that it will not roll out National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The Maharashtra government held its first meeting on Saturday to discuss the implementation of NPR and concluded that it will not roll out the same and the proposed NRC until a consensus has arrived among the citizens of the state.
This comes after thousands of protestors gathered at Azad Maidan on Saturday to oppose the CAA, NRC and NPR. The Narendra Modi-led central government has set a deadline to carry out NPR, NRC processes from May 1.
Earlier, the state government officials including several district collectors and municipal commissioners had participated in a seminar on the modalities of rolling out the NPR. The Hindu reported that the meeting with the Director, Census, Rashmi Zagde and Principal Secretary, General Administration Department (GAD), Valsa Nair, was held at the Sahyadri Guest House.
On the contrary, several media reports suggest that Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is keen to implement the NPR starting from May 1 despite allies including Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have opposed the same.
Congress leader Varsha Gaikwad and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, both have objected to the implementation of NPR and NRC. Congress earlier stated that the NPR is nothing but NRC is disguise.
This seems to be widening the rift between the three-party alliance in Maharashtra. The Congress and NCP have opposed the NRC, NPR processes while Shiv Sena's stand on the issue is not yet clear.
The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government is yet to reach an official stand on the issue. CM Uddhav Thackeray earlier said that NRC will not be implemented as it would not be possible for the poor to produce documents. The same, however, can’t be said about the NPR.
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Keeping in mind the difference of opinion over Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence case and the implementation of NPR, NCP chief Sharad Pawar has organised a meeting with ministers from his party on Monday.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led government faced its first criticism from the NCP chief after the state government gave nod to transfer the Bhima Koregaon case to National Investigation Agency (NIA). Sharad Pawar wanted the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter.
Pawar expressed his discontent over the same saying that the Maharashtra government’s decision to transfer the Bhima Koregaon case to the centre was constitutionally wrong as the investigation of the crime falls under the jurisdiction of the state.
The Central government’s decision to transfer the case to NIA was unfair and the Maharashtra government approving the same was more unfair, Pawar added.
“I wanted the role of some police officers involved in the Bhima Koregaon case to be probed. The behaviour of some people in Maharashtra police is objectionable. Earlier, in a meeting with the police officers, the Maharashtra government decided to transfer the case to NIA. This is constitutionally wrong as the probe of the case falls under state’s jurisdiction,” NCP chief Sharad Pawar asserted.
Reacting to the central government’s decision to transfer the Elgar Parishad case to NIA, Pawar had stated that the Narendra Modi government was afraid that the “truth will come out”.
Maharashtra Home Minister and NCP leader, Anil Deshmukh had also expressed that the centre should not transfer the case to NIA while alleging that the Devendra Fadnavis regime was trying to protect “some people.”
Reacting to Uddhav Thackeray’s decision, Deshmukh said that he wanted the state police to investigate the matter while adding that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has “overruled” the stand of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on the issue.
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After Maharashtra government filed a No Objection Certificate (NOC), a Pune sessions court on February 14 ordered the transfer of Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence case to a special NIA court in Mumbai and asked all the accused to appear before the special NIA court on February 28.
Amid the building tension between three-party MVA government, Maharashtra Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad informed that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will take a decision on NPR and NRC "in the interest of the people". Awhad further stated that more discussion on the issue will be held.
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