BJP keen on NRC in Bihar despite JD-U's reservations

With Assembly polls due next year, the BJP in Bihar has adopted an aggressive approach on the implementation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise in the state despite apprehensions of the ally Janata Dal-United.

A day after BJP Rajya Sabha MP Gopal Narayan Singh demanded NRC exercise in Bihar without any delay, Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Monday strongly pitched for NRC to flush out Bangladeshi infiltrators.

Noting that Bihar should be free of people who illegally entered India, he said political parties in the state should not see the issue of NRC with an eye on vote bank as it was related to the national interest.

"The issue of NRC should be seen in the national interest and not with an eye on the vote bank. It's not me who is demanding NRC in Bihar but the situation there. The demography of bordering districts is changing rapidly. It pains us because we have fought for throwing out Bangladeshis," Singh said in a tweet.

The firebrand BJP leader said some people were seeing this demand as politically motivated.

"The NRC should not be seen with a political prism. The country, as well as Bihar, should be free from infiltrators," he said.

The issue of NRC has emerged as a new bone of contention between the two key allies of the ruling coalition in Bihar as the BJP has been consistently pitching for its implementation while JD-U leaders are not in its favour.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has recently claimed that Kumar was on the same page with her on the issue of NRC. She said that Kumar had told her that he won't allow NRC in his state.

The development comes days after Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi clarified following remarks by a BJP leader that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is and will remain captain of the NDA in the state.

Singh, an MP from Begusarai, said that people of Bihar feel hurt over the different stance of JD-U on Article 370, triple talaq and NRC.

"People of Bihar feel hurt when they (JD-U) have different opinions on issues of Article 370, triple talaq and the NRC," he said in another tweet.

The JD-U has taken an opposite stance from that of BJP on the issues of Article 370, triple talaq and the NRC, leading to some differences between the two parties.

Katihar, Kishanganj, Purnea and Araria are four districts of Seemanchal region in the state which have a substantial Muslim population.

The BJP has so far failed to make many inroads in the region.

During 2019 Lok Sabha polls, JD-U fought all the four seats and won three and Congress managed to retain the Kishanganj seat.