Ajit Pawar: Citizens of Maharashtra need not worry about CAA-NRC-NPR

Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar on Sunday said the citizens of Maharashtra need not worry about the new citizenship law, the proposed NRC and the NPR, and flagged "misinformation" on the issue. Addressing the convention of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) here, he also ruled out any need to bring a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Population Register (NPR) in the state Legislative Assembly.

"State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has given his word. Some people are trying to create different types of debates on the issue," he said, adding that there is no need to fear about the CAA, the NPR and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Pawar further said that his party will take the precaution that no citizen of Maharashtra suffers because of the CAA, the NRC and the NPR.

"(NCP chief) Sharad Pawarji and other leaders have assured that nobody will have to face any problem in Maharashtra because of it (CAA, NRC and NPR). We have already discussed the issue in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government," he said. The deputy chief minister said some people were spreading "false information" about the CAA, the NRC and the NPR by referring to a resolution passed in Bihar, and called for more awareness on this issue.

The Bihar Legislative Assembly had last month unanimously resolved that there was no need of NRC in the state and that the NPR exercise be done strictly according to the 2010 Format. Notably, Sharad Pawar had said in last December that like eight other states, Maharashtra should also refuse implementation of the new citizenship law, which he feared would hurt the religious and social harmony of India.

NCP leader and state minister Nawab Malik had last month said the NRC will not be implemented in Maharashtra. The Congress, another constituent in the Shiv Sena-led
government, had demanded that a resolution against the NPR and the CAA be brought in the Assembly. After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi last month, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had said that no one needs to fear about the CAA. He had also said that the NPR was not going to throw anyone out of the country.

Earlier, Thackeray had said that his government will not allow the proposed NRC to be implemented as it would impact people of all religions.

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