JD(U) had voted for CAA, sticks to its stand, asserts Nitish

The JD(U) sticks to its stand on supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's statement on the floor of the Bihar assembly on Monday should not be construed as otherwise, a close aide to the CM said on Tuesday.

Sanjay Kumar Jha, who is the states minister for water resources, expressed bewilderment over reports in a section of the media stating that Kumar had, in his speech on the previous day, "opposed" CAA and was ready to "reconsider" the stand taken by the JD(U) of which he is the national president.

"It is a misinterpretation. We were all present inside the House when the Chief Minister spoke. We had voted for the CAB in Lok Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha which helped the Bill become an Act.

"Now, it is in force and has become the law of the land. The question of opposing it or reconsidering the party stand does not arise", Jha told PTI.

"Our party had voted for the Bill taking into account the fact that it contained no problematic provisions. It aimed at granting citizenship to some people and not depriving anybody of the same.

"When the Chief Minister said he was ready for a discussion on issues which have left the country astir, like CAA, NRC and NPR he was responding to the oppositions demand for the same. That does not mean he was going back on his past stance", Jha clarified.

Kumar had made the remarks during a special day-long session of the Assembly for approving the 126th Constitution Amendment Bill, passed by Parliament last month, whereby reservation of seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies for SCs/STs which was to expire this year has been extended by another 10 years.

A strident stance adopted by Prashant Kishor whom the JD(U) chief had inducted in September, 2018 and elevated to the post of national vice president weeks later- had triggered speculations if Kumar was rethinking his stand on the new law.

JD(U) sources, however, maintain that the former election strategist has of late been mostly out of sync with the party line on these matters being too busy with his professional collaborations with leaders like Arvind Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjee both of whom are, incidentally, vehement opponents of the BJP.