NRC resolution: How Nitish Kumar killed three birds with one stone

Around 1.50 pm on Tuesday, when Nitish Kumar was sitting in his chamber in the Bihar Assembly, an aide of Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition, rushed in with a message that Lalu’s son wanted to meet the CM.

Within seconds, Nitish gave his nod. Tejashwi, along with his party colleague and former Finance Minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui, entered Nitish’s room at precisely 1.52 pm. The two leaders were meeting after a gap of nearly three years. (The two had met last in 2017 when Nitish insisted that Tejashwi should quit as Deputy CM in the Grand Alliance Government).

Tejashwi reportedly proposed to Nitish that when he, as the Chief Minister, has already declared that there will be no NRC in Bihar, why not then pass a resolution in this regard in the House and end the controversy over the contentious issue. It was decided in the meeting that along with NPR, a resolution be passed on NRC too on Tuesday itself.

Jab They Met

Not many leaders in the BJP were aware of the meeting between Nitish and his former deputy Tejashwi. The House reconvened after the lunch break and the resolution on NRC was passed unanimously at 2.50 pm. Caught off guard, the BJP later cried foul. “We were aware of the NPR resolution. But we were not apprised about the NRC,” said a leader of the BJP Legislature Party (BJPLP) in the Assembly, Prem Kumar, who is also Agriculture Minister in Nitish Cabinet.

But Nitish had, by then, played his masterstroke. With his confidant Sushil Modi, (the deputy CM) by his side, he had put a lid on the contentious issue of NRC and NPR after reiterating that “NPR of 2010 would be implemented in Bihar,” not the one in the present format.

Through this resolution, the Chief Minister also sent a message to the minorities in Bihar that until he was at the helm, they need not worry one bit about the NRC/NPR/CAA. He also kept the RJD leader Tejashwi in good humour by accepting his suggestion on NRC/NPR. Thirdly, Nitish, through the NRC move, took the wind out of Kanhaiya Kumar’s sails as the CPI leader had been touring the State (and drawing huge crowd) protesting against the CAA/NRC/NPR.

“Now there is nothing much left for the Left leaders to say when they attend “Save Constitution, Save Citizenship” rally in Patna on February 27,” a political observer told DH here on Wednesday.