Kohima: Nagaland minister Temjen Imna Along said Sunday the state unit members of BJP would not dissociate themselves from the national leadership even if the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is brought into force by the saffron party-led NDA government after Lok Sabha elections.
Along, who is also the state unit president of BJP, was replying to a question by Opposition Naga People’s Front (NPF) MLA Moatoshi Longkumer in the assembly.
Longkumer, however, insisted that the BJP, a constituent of the ruling NDPP-led People’s Democratic Alliance government, also issue a statement on the matter. He alleged that the Neiphu Rio-led government took a U-turn on the bill after protests broke out in the state and other parts of the northeast.
“Initially, the chief minister had stated they will not oppose the bill because Article 371(A) protects Nagas. They changed their stance later, keeping in mind popular sentiments,” the NPF legislator said during a discussion on the bill.
The chief minister tabled a resolution in the assembly Saturday, opposing the passage of the Citizenship Bill in Parliament. Rio said the central government was pursuing the bill for enactment, despite opposition by state governments, political parties, tribal organizations and civil societies in the Northeast.
The bill, passed in Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to provide citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India.
Longkumer said every constituent of the PDA government — the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Janata Dal (U) and the National People’s Party and an Independent MLA — should make their stand clear on the bill, he said. (PTI)
