State govt will not take part in anything but Census, says Maharashtra Minister Jitendra Awhad

Indicating that the Maharashtra government, led by Shiv Sena-NCP alliance, may not implement the National Population Register (NPR) in the state, NCP on Monday said that their government will not take part in any central government's process but the Census.

"Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said that Maharashtra govt will help in collecting data for the Census which is conducted in the country every 10 years. But if anyone tries to do anything beyond it, then the state govt will not take part in it," the Minister said.

Awhad made the comments while addressing a public gathering in Thane on Monday.

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

The opposition parties are claiming that the NPR exercise is linked to the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Awhad's comments are significant as their alliance partner in the Maharashtra state government, Shiv Sena, broke away from the BJP last year.

Shiv Sena had contested elections in coalition with the BJP and their alliance got a majority, but the long-term partners parted ways over the issue of rotational chief ministership.

Later, Sena joined hands with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress to form the government. Shiv Sena's Uddhav Thackeray is now leading the coalition government in the state.

BJP President JP Nadda recently said that the party will contest next Assembly elections solo and that it will be a BJP versus other parties contest in the polls.

The first phase of Census-2021 will be conducted in Haryana from May 1 to June 15, with the help of around 58,000 enumerators and supervisors.