Bihar Assembly passes resolution against NRC, Nitish says will implement NPR in 2010 format

The Bihar Assembly Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution to not implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state.

"National Register of Citizens (NRC) bogey is being raised despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's categorical statement that NRC is not on the anvil," Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was quoted as saying by PTI.

The House also passed a resolution to implement the National Population Register (NPR) in its 2010 format. Kumar said his government has written to the Centre, "seeking omission of contentious clauses from NPR forms".

The BJP ally-JD(U) chief added that there should be "no confusion" regarding how NPR would be carried out in the state and allayed fears about having to furnish information relating to places of birth of parents. He also read out the text of the letter which included a proposition by the Bihar government to include "transgenders" in the gender column of the forms.

The new NPR form has three key additional questions in the latest exercise — date of birth and place of parents, and last residential address, of the applicant — that had sparked fears of the NPR leading to a countrywide NRC. Bihar government would be conducting the NPR exercise from May 15-28.

Kumar was replying to the adjournment motion on Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)-National Population Register (NPR)-NRC, moved by Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav and others, which was approved by Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary. It led to disruption in House proceedings as the Opposition termed the amended Citizenship law as "kala kanoon".

The "kala kanoon" chants were strongly opposed to by BJP ministers Nand Kishore Yadav and Vijay Kumar Sinha, who countered the opposition with the question "does Parliament pass a black law?"

(With agency inputs)