Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday assured delegations from the Muslim community that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will not be implemented in the State.
Addressing a public meeting at Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy also categorically stated that the State government would not support the proposed implementation of the NRC.
With this, Andhra Pradesh joins 10 other States in opposing or refusing to implement the NRC.
The Maharashtra government would not construct any detention centre and Muslims should not fear being thrown out of the State, Mr. Thackeray told two separate delegations of leading Muslim leaders, ulemas and maulanas.
Senior leaders from the Muslim community met the Chief Minister, Home Minister Eknath Shinde, Industry Minister Subhash Desai, and Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Barve at Varsha, the Chief Minister’s residence. “The Chief Minister assured that no decision has been taken regarding the CAA/the NRC in Maharashtra. Even if it is ever implemented, the government will ensure Muslims are made part of it, he told us,” said South Mumbai MLA Amin Patel.
Besides Mr. Patel, the delegations included MLAs Nawab Malik and Abu Azmi, community leader Maulana Mahmood Daryabadi of the All India Ulema Council, and maulanas, and representatives from Badi Masjid of Madanpura.
The delegations were informed that the government had taken no step towards construction of a detention centre for the stateless. A lot of misinformation was being spread about a centre coming up near Mumbai, the Chief Minister said. But that was being planned for drug smugglers, including foreigners, 38 of whom were in jail for the past several years.
Congress leader and Cabinet Minister Balasaheb Thorat said the Maha Vikas Aghadi government would not implement the CAA/the NRC in the State.
The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister said his Cabinet colleague and Deputy Chief Minister Azmath Basha Shaik Bepari had consulted him before publicly opposing the NRC. The government would stick to the stand and oppose the implementation of the NRC , Mr. Reddy said. His YSR Congress Party MPs had backed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
A couple of days ago, Mr. Basha had said the government would not support the NRC or any Bill that was against the interests of Muslims. The party had always stood for the interests of minority communities, he said.
Mr. Reddy’s YSR Congress Party, however, supported the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The YSRCP MPs had backed the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Subsequently, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi requested Mr. Reddy to reconsider his decision on supporting the NRC.
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