Splinter in JD(U) over CAA? Minority Cell leader tenders resignation after Prashant Kishor

Janata Dal (United) leader Khwaja Shahid, on Friday, December 27, tendered his resignation from the party after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's stand over the newly implemented Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Shahid's resignation, who held the post of JDU's minority cell, comes after the party leaders supported CAA and also days after party Vice President Prashant Kishor aired his concerns over the Act and offered his resignation. Kishor also deleted his designation from his Twitter bio. However, CM Nitish Kumar has not accepted his resignation yet. 

READ | 'Turncoat Leader Silent': Lalu Prasad Slams Nitish Kumar Over CAA, Calls Him A 'coward'

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act which grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists, and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who came to India on or before December 31, 2014, received President Ram Nath Kovind's assent on December 12. The dissent in JD(U) started after the party which is in an alliance which the BJP, voted in favour of the bill in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha as well. 

READ | JDU's Sanjay Singh Calls Bihar Bandh 'useless', Reminds Of CM Nitish Kumar's Reiteration

However, Party President and CM, Nitish Kumar opposed the NDA alliance, as he stated that asserted that National Register for Citizens will not be implemented in the state. Kumar's statements made him the first from the NDA camp to have voiced disapproval of the proposed move to have an all India NRC which triggered country-wide tension and protests. 

'No NRC in Bihar'

Earlier on December 21, Nitish Kumar asserted that National Register for Citizens will not be implemented in the state, putting to rest speculations raised by the JD(U)’s support to the Citizenship Amendment Act. Kumar made this clear in a terse reply to queries from journalists who had sought his response on the proposed country-wide implementation of NRC, including Bihar, as stated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the floor of the Parliament. It should be noted that JDU had supported the Central government with the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Parliament.

READ | Bihar CM Nitish Kumar Meets Minority Delegation Amid Protests Against CAA

"Kaahe ka NRC? Bilkul laagu nahin hoga (NRC, what for? Will not at all be implemented),” Kumar quipped as he sauntered towards his vehicle, waving at the media persons who had been waiting outside an auditorium in Patna seeking to know the stand of the Chief Minister who was at the venue to address the 80th annual session of Indian Road Congress.

READ | Anti-CAA Protests: 317 Arrested, Over 70 Cases Registered In UP's Meerut For Violence