Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik withdraws support for NRC

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, on December 18, withdrew support for the nationwide implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

With this announcement, the Biju Janata Dal chief joined the bandwagon of CMs who have refused to obey the Centre’s diktat to implement NRC in their respective states.

Making his stance clear, Patnaik said: “The Citizenship (Amendment) Act has nothing to do with Indian citizens. It only deals with foreigners. The Biju Janata Dal’s MPs, both in Lok Sabha and in Rajya Sabha, have made it clear that we do not support the NRC. I would appeal to our citizens to let peace prevail and not to indulge in rumour-mongering.”

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Backing his CM, senior BJD leader and parliamentarian Pinaki Misra said: “NRC may pave the path for certain people to be targeted in the garb of being asked to prove their citizenship. I myself cannot prove my citizenship; I don’t even have a birth certificate.”

Pointing out that the National Population Register (NPR) is the first step for NRC, Misra insisted this step be done by states. This, he said, would ensure that the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Centre is not able to force individual governments to implement it, reported the Indian Express.

So far, the chief ministers of five non-BJP states, namely, Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Captain Amarinder Singh (Punjab), Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh), and Pinarayi Vijayan (Kerala) have voiced their opinion against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the NRC. Telangana’s Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Delhi’s Aam Admi Party have also opposed a nationwide NRC and the CAA.

As of now, Trinamool Congress, Congress, Janata Dal (United), BJD, AAP, Communist Party of India (Marxist), and TRS have opposed pan-India NRC. These parties form the government in 11 Indian states, namely, West Bengal, Delhi, Odisha, Punjab, Kerala, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, and Telangana.

Meanwhile, the Congress party and the Nationalist Congress Party, who form the government in Maharashtra along with the Shiv Sena, have also opposed the NRC.