Nationwide NRC equal to demonetisation of citizenship, says Prashant Kishor

JDU leader Prashant Kishor on Sunday said that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) is equivalent to demonetisation of citizenship.

"The idea of nationwide NRC is equivalent to demonetisation of citizenship....invalid till you prove it otherwise. The biggest sufferers would be the poor and the marginalised...we know from the experience!!#NotGivingUp," Kishor tweeted.

The NRC, which has been developed with the aim of segregating Indian citizens from illegal migrants, was implemented in Assam. Recently, the final list of NRC was published in which 19,06,657 persons were excluded including those who did not submit their claims.

Prashant Kishor, who publicly took a stand contrary to that of his party on the citizenship law, offered his resignation to the party chief Nitish Kumar here on Saturday, sources said.

He also met JDU chief Nitish Kumar on Saturday and later said: "Nitish Kumar said that we are not in favour of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). There is no problem with the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, but it becomes discriminatory when combined with the NRC."

A day before the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on December 11, Kishor had asked his party to reconsider its decision to support the Bill in Parliament.

The party, which shares power with the BJP in Bihar, however, voted in favour of the Bill in both the Houses of Parliament.

After getting the nod of the Rajya Sabha, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill became an Act on December 12 with the assent of President Ram Nath Kovind.