NCP firm in opposing CAA, will try to convince Uddhav Thackeray: Sharad Pawar

After Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said there is no need to worry if the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is implemented, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that the Shiv Sena chief was entitled to his view and that the alliance partners may discuss the issue.

He underlined that the Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP's) stand is clear over the new citizenship law and it stands firm in opposing the CAA.

"Whatever Uddhav Thackeray said, that is his view. He is the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, he has his own views. Yes, in Maharashtra we are in a coalition government and opinion and views of the parties on certain issues may differ, but we can sit and discuss on it as far as CAA is concerned," said Pawar, whose party is a major alliance partner of Maharashtra's Maha Vikas Aghadi government - an alliance of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress.

"The three parties of the Maha Vikas Aghadi will sit and discuss it. Soon we will be having a detailed discussion on it and we will try to convince Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray about it," Pawar added.

Pawar further stated that there can be a difference of opinions in a coalition government.

"We have the experience of running a coalition government at the Centre during the UPA regime. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had 29 parties. In fact, we had the Left front parties too with us which always had different views, but we managed to go along with them," he said.

Uddhav Thackeray earlier today said that there is no need to worry if the CAA is implemented.He reiterated that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will not be implemented in the state.

"CAA and NRC both are different and NPR is different. No one has to worry if CAA gets implemented. NRC is not there and will not be implemented in the state," said Thackeray while speaking to reporters.

Many non-BJP state governments, including Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan have refused to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed NRC in their respective states.