Same view not always possible: NCP on Sena backing CAB

With its Maharashtra alliance partner Shiv Sena backing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha, the NCP on Tuesday said the two are different parties and it is not possible always for them to hold the same view on all issues.

NCP chief spokesperson Nawab Malik, however, said the parties are committed to ensuring that no injustice is meted to anyone on the grounds of religion, caste, language and region in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra Congress general secretary Sachin Sawant also said that though the Shiv Sena has backed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) in the Lok Sabha, it was hopeful the Uddhav Thackeray-led party will stick to the common minimum programme (CMP) while governing the state.

The Sharad Pawar-led party earlier said the CAB is "anti-constitutional" and the BJP-led Union government is pushing it only for political benefits.

The Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress formed government in Maharashtra last month after the Thackeray-led party severed its ties with the BJP.

In the CMP formulated before government formation, the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress mentioned that issues regarding constitutional provisions and having a bearing on the state and national secular fabric will have to be discussed among them, and only then any of the three parties can decide on its position.

According to the CAB, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, till December 31, 2014, facing religious persecution there, will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

"We are two different parties. We reached an agreement on certain issues when it comes to governance in the state. Two allies from Bihar too have taken a different stance on some issues," Malik said.

He was apparently referring to the ruling JD(U) and BJP in Bihar holding different views on the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

The BJP supported it, while the JD(U) was against its scrapping.

"Theirs (Shiv Sena) is a different party and it is not possible that we have same opinion on every issue. But, we are committed to ensuring there is no injustice meted to anyone on the grounds of religion, caste, language and region in Maharashtra," Malik said.

Sawant also expressed hope that the Shiv Sena would stick to the CMP "though it has a right in the democracy to take a different position at the national level on certain issue".

"We expect the Shiv Sena to follow the CMP," the Congress leader added.