Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the JD(U)-BJP alliance will fight the state polls later this year under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. In an attempt to downplay the murmurs within the JD(U) on the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Shah also resorted to allay concerns as he addressed a rally in support of the new legislation in Vaishali district on Thursday.
Bihar is expected to go to polls by October. The BJP and JD(U) leadership's attempt to put up a united face in front of the media were ruined by JD(U) vice president and political strategist Prashant Kishor raised his opposition to the passage of the controversial act in Parliament. Reiterating his position, Kishor on Sunday tweeted that "there would be no implementation of CAA-NRC in Bihar".
A day later, Nitish Kumar also announced that the National Register of Citizens would not be implemented in Bihar. Nitish also said that there should be a debate on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in the Bihar Assembly, if all parties agree.
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Shah had earlier stated in a couple of TV interviews that the chief minister (Nitish Kumar) will lead the NDA charge in the assembly polls this year. This was, however, the first occasion for him to make a pronouncement to the effect on the soil of Bihar.
However, Shah stated that CAA has received the best response in Bihar. He also asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD chief Lalu Prasad should stop misleading people. "Nobody is going to lose citizenship on account of CAA... CAA intends to help those who came to India after their womenfolk were raped in front of their eyes, their properties snatched away and their places of worship desecrated. I want to ask Lalu and Mamata didi what wrong have the Matuas and the Namasudras done to them that they are opposing grant of citizenship to these people," Shah said at the Bihar rally.
The BJP has been engaged for last 15 days to make the mega rally a grand success to show the party's strength in state and to give a message to the opposition that people of Bihar stand firm with CAA. "The opposition parties engineered anti-CAA riots, a reason why BJP took upon itself to hold rallies across the country to apprise people about their nefarious designs," Shah charged.