“For people in Assam”: Nitish Kumar defends vote against citizenship bill

TIL Desk/National/Patna/ Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has defended the Janata Dal (United)’s decision to vote against the citizenship bill in the Rajya Sabha. “When the issue of citizenship bill cropped up, we took the view that the identity of Assamese people must not come under any sort of attack. We expressed our views to the Union Home Ministry and the BJP leadership as well,” Kumar, who is also the JDU president, told reporters here on the sidelines of his weekly public-interaction programme, ‘Lok Samvad’.

“I do not think it’s going to cause any problems in our alliance with the BJP. We have been allies for long, but maintained our independent stand on a number of issues. The AGP (Asom Gana Parishad), too, had sought our support on this issue. The BJP, being in power in Assam and at the Centre, is empowered to take a final call… but, we are free to voice our differences,” Kumar added.

Bharatiya Janata Party ministers Prem Kumar, Mangal Pandey and Vijay Sinha were present at the event. On Sunday, the JDU had announced that the party would vote against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, in the Rajya Sabha. The chief minister questioned the stance of the Congress, which had staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha when the bill was being tabled, wondering if the party would follow the same course in the Upper House, where the National Democratic Alliance was short of majority.